Unto The Breach
by BackslashEcho
Summary: With the power of all nine Bijuu within him, Rokudaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto should have been unstoppable. When Tobi tried to imprison him in the Other Dimension, the combined power of nine tailed beasts caused spacetime to tear, and the bijuu found themselves inside their previous jinchuuriki hosts...in the past. [AU/Time Travel]
1. Back To Before (Prologue)

"Your goal is worthy. Our power is yours to command."

Naruto blinked.

Communing with the Bastard Fo—with _Kurama_ had always been disorienting, but now there was a cacophony of voices in his subconscious, and he was so energized by the chakra of nine bijuu instead of one that he felt as if he could tear apart this final battlefield of the Fourth Great Shinobi War all on his own.

The White Zetsu clone soldiers were no match for him, and at this point only the mightiest of the _Edo Tensei_-revived warriors would be able to even see him. And, as if that weren't enough, the revived Hokage had all been freed from the Enemy's control. From the First to the Fifth, they were ranged behind him right now, their combined threat level keeping all others at bay, only having backed off to allow him the honor of the final confrontation: The secret Uchiha calling himself Tobi…and their battlefield-appointed successor—Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he glared at his opponent. The sharingan visible behind the tomoe-shaped holes in Tobi's white mask, by contrast, seemed to bulge, and the irides spun and _twisted_ into an elongated pinwheel.

_I know that eye!_ Naruto thought, his lip curling back from his enlarged canines. It was the last impression of his first mentor, forever burned into his mind from the man's final moments. _That's Kakashi-sensei's eye! __**He stole Kakashi-sensei's eye!**_

"You look angry," Tobi drawled. "Perhaps that will protect you from despair for a time. As it is, you have been a thorn in my side too long, and I will have the power you seek to turn against me. I shall hold you until it is time to bring the Moon's Eye plan to fruition. _Kamui!_"

Naruto screamed. He felt a strange force that _pulled_ at his body, which _twisted_ his very existence the way Tobi's sharingan had twisted into the Mangekyou…

"No!" Naruto cried, and nine other voices echoed inside his head. He drew on the chakra offered freely by the nine bijuu within him, felt it flooding throughout his body until the overwhelming pleasurepainpower threatened to tear him apart itself.

And then, there was nothing.

* * *

><p>In a dark tent, Sabaku no Gaara raised a hand to brush at his short red hair. <em>Odd<em>. He didn't wear his hair this short anymore.

As he shifted forward, lost in thought, he felt a weight on his back. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw an enormous cork. His sand-gourd? _Odder still_. Ever since he had learned to grind the earth beneath his feet into sand at a mere thought, he had ceased carrying the heavy thing around with him.

In any case, this cramped canvas around him reminded Gaara of nothing so much as the tent his brother had used en route to their first chunin exams. Gaara had never needed it, being unable to sleep without releasing his prisoner. As he recalled, he had only entered the tent to isolate himself during the full moon, two days before their arrival in Konoha. Staying out of the moonlight helped to quiet the rages of…

There was a tickling sensation at the back of Gaara's mind, a _feeling_ that somehow recalled the _sound_ of hissing sands in a glass. Gaara's teal-green eyes widened in disbelieving shock.

* * *

><p>Nii Yugito yawned and stretched languorously, opening her eyes from her…she mentally smirked…<em>catnap<em>. She had chosen this apartment expressly because it had a small, thickly-cushioned bed in the South-facing window, meaning she could curl up in the sun whenever she wished.

Perhaps she should ask A-sama for a mission, though. It would do her good to get out of the village and stretch her legs. She must have been bored for too long, to have had a dream such as…that…one…

Despite the warm sunlight she was bathed in, Yugito shivered.

* * *

><p>A small tower rose from a lake in the middle of the largest island in the Land of Water. Within, Midorikatabami Yagura blinked rapidly. This was…the Mizukage's office. His hands on the desk were cold; the chair uncomfortable, apparently from how long he had sat in it.<p>

He could…feel?

How many years had passed since he was elected the Yondaime Mizukage? How many years since his beloved village had celebrated his mysterious demise, after he had been made to instigate the bloodiest civil war the country had ever seen. How long since…

A small, soft noise from behind his chair made Yagura stiffen, and his fingers closed on the hooked staff leaning against his desk.

"Excuse me," he said quietly, politely. He smiled grimly at the shocked intake of breath. "I must ask you to leave my office at once."

* * *

><p>Akahige no Roshi opened his eyes blearily. He was slumped on a wooden bar, his vision obscured by the huge, half-empty bottle sitting beside him. With a groan, he pushed himself upright, twisting his head so as to pop the bones in his neck. Onoki was always telling him that he would give himself rheumatism like that, but Roshi still moved without aches while Onoki complained daily about his bad back.<p>

Roshi's head pounded. He picked up the bottle he had woken up staring at; raised it to his lips for a little hair of the dog…and felt a painfully familiar stab of annoyance in the back of his mind.

The bottle slipped from his nerveless fingers and shattered.

* * *

><p>Han of the Steam Armour was, appropriately enough, having a steam bath to calm his nerves. The situation was…unlikely? Unusual? Impossible? Words seemed insufficient. Though the large man often seemed ponderous, he was anything but slow. Like his great-granduncle the Shodai Tsuchikage, the truth was that he often had trouble being still. Though he was no genius, his mind was always in full motion, taking in and going over everything he saw and heard and thought.<p>

The steam he saw and smelled and felt now—so very separate from his own—merited such contemplation. By rights, he ought not be _aware_ of anything at all. Particularly not the barely-contained charging force within him that he knew as well as he knew his own name…

* * *

><p>Utakata gasped, and jerked away from the ropes descending toward him. He rolled out of the enormous sealing circle, came to his bare feet, and sprinted away as fast as he could. It was like a wide-awake nightmare; returned to that seal, to that place where his life had nearly been snatched away by a man who thought he was doing the right thing, a man he had respected and loved, a man he had called master…<p>

"Utakata!"

Closing his eyes, the young man ignored the frantic cry of his name, the voice so achingly familiar, and forced himself to run even faster. He had run before and he would run again. He had to get _away_ before it could happen again, before he could be betrayed and betrayer, before his shishou died for his own sins.

* * *

><p>Fuu shrieked.<p>

This was impossible, this was unacceptable, this was wrong, _wrong, WRONG_!

It couldn't be true, she couldn't be back here again. The village had been destroyed, its citizens slaughtered by Akatsuki, by their prodigal son Kakuzu; the Hero's Water had been stolen and the Great Tree razed, the dam destroyed and the reservoir drained straight through the village itself until the Waterfall nearly ran red…

Genjutsu. It had to be. Someone in the vicinity was forcing her to remember, to _relive_. She needed to escape, to disrupt it, to flee its range.

She had to get free!

Mintoha Fuu called forth her power. She scattered a shimmering, blinding powder all around herself, spread her wings, and flew off as fast as she could.

* * *

><p>In a hidden cave within the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, Killer B sat quietly for once, his expression utterly unreadable behind the sunglasses he wore even here, in the pitch-darkness of his home-away-from-home. Alone though he was, he was deep in conversation, getting up to speed on everything that had happened after he…<p>

So it had been an Uchiha after all. Perhaps Kumo's attempt to abduct the byakugan from Konoha should have been aimed at the sharingan instead…though the insanity which appeared to come along with those eyes was not at all worth it, in B's opinion. Perhaps it should have been early extermination, instead of kidnapping.

But B shouldn't be _here_. He knew that, and so did his partner. In fact, they specifically remembered collapsing this particular cave several years ago…

* * *

><p>Naruto felt a hand close around his ankle as he fell upside down, and he reacted instinctively, drawing a kunai and slashing at the ankles of the person holding him. His captor released him, skipping sideways on the tree limb to avoid Naruto's cut. Naruto grabbed the branch at a narrower point with his free hand, used his momentum to swing a full circle around the limb, and planted both feet in the man's back.<p>

"Ooof." With a grunt, the white-haired man went tumbling forward. His momentum thus cancelled, Naruto landed in a crouch on the branch, reversing his grip on the kunai and wondering idly why it was so small, without its signature three-prongs…

The man he had kicked caught a branch some ten feet below, swung around it as Naruto had, and stood tall, glaring back at his blond student with his one uncovered eye even as he slipped a small orange book into the pocket of his flak vest…

"K-K-Kakashi-sensei?"

Naruto dropped his kunai, which landed point-down and stuck in the branch he stood upon. Naruto didn't even notice how close it had been to his foot.

"Who did you think caught you when you slipped?" the man asked, his visible eyebrow rising even as his eye crinkled in his usual smile.

Naruto launched himself at the branch on which his sensei stood, landed hard, and flung himself at the man. He wrapped his arms around Kakashi and buried his face in the Copy Ninja's flak jacket, breathing hard and struggling to hold back the tears.

"S-sensei…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" he was sniffling and babbling and this was probably a genjutsu he was trapped in, and he would ask the Bas—he would ask Kurama to free him in a moment, but for now he just wanted to hold his lost teacher.

"Uh," said Kakashi intelligently. He placed a hand on Naruto's head and ruffled his hair in the way the boy always hated, hoping it would help bring him back to normal. This behavior was a bit odd, even for Naruto.

"Oi. Dobe. Quit wasting time," called a voice from ahead.

Naruto gasped again, turning his head without releasing Kakashi to see the speaker, his miserable face twisting into a snarl as he drew another kunai, wondering again why it was not not triple-pronged and marked with the Hiraishin seal. No matter. He could still flow his wind chakra down it if needed; that should insulate the blade and render it strong enough to resist Sasuke's Chidori-enhanced chokutou. He met his rival-turned-enemy's eye…and froze. Sasuke stood before him, yes, and Sakura at his side like always. And yet…

Sakura was wearing a _dress_, her hair reached halfway down her back, and she was looking at him in puzzlement and frustration, but not contempt. Sasuke bore the uchiwa of his clan on the sleeve of his high-collared blue shirt, his eyes were onyx-dark instead of burning red, and though he too looked vaguely annoyed, his face was not twisted with hatred. Neither wore what he had last seen them in—oddly-cut black cloaks with a pattern of red clouds—and both of them had unblemished Konoha hitai-ite on their heads.

Naruto looked down at the hand holding his kunai. It seemed smaller than it should. He raised his other hand and felt his hair—shorter than he had worn it since before his first chunin exams. And his arms were orange to the wrists—orange sleeves, not black. He was wearing his all-orange jacket with the white collar that he had outgrown during his training trip with Jiraiya.

Between their collective height, clothes, and hairstyles…if he'd seen a photograph of this moment, he'd have said it was Team 7 sometime before their first chunin exams, which had been interrupted by the Sand-Sound Invasion and had ended with Hiruzen-jiijii's death. But this wasn't a photo.

Naruto put away his kunai, stepped away from Kakashi, and closed his eyes. _Kurama?_ He could feel the fox, much clearer in his mind than their connection had ever actually been when he was this age. _We need to bust out now. I'm counting on you to back me up if I need it._ There was a faint growl of assent in the back of his mind.

Naruto interlaced his fingers in a hand seal he had learned from Asuma-sensei before his death fighting Hidan—a special seal the former Guardian called the Seal of the Outer Bonds—and momentarily halted the flow of his own chakra. Then he expelled his chakra in a massive pulse, yelling, "Kai!"

Nothing happened.

Naruto focused harder, trying again. "Kai!" No change.

_Kurama!_ Naruto felt a far more powerful pulse, this time entirely of Kyuubi's chakra, but still the scene before him did not alter. Sakura was looking at him like he was crazy, Sasuke had activated his sharingan—just two tomoe in each eye!—and Kakashi was glancing around curiously.

"This is…real?" Naruto whispered. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted, barely aware of Kakashi catching him again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hello Internet! Welcome to a new idea that wouldn't leave me alone. As you can tell, this is a Peggy Sue story. Yes, I do have something of a soft spot for Peggy Sue stories. Now, I haven't read nearly all the _Naruto_ Peggy Sue fics out there, but I haven't seen it done this way before.

I settled on the family name Midorikatabami for Yagura last year, since he lacks one in canon. It means "green oxalis", referring to the flower on his hook-staff-thing. Roshi is called after his hair; Akahige means (roughly) "red whiskers". Likewise, I have given Fuu the name Mintoha, meaning "mint leaves", obviously an allusion to _her_ hair.

The nine Jinchuuriki are all very different; they have individual personalities and distinct reactions to suddenly finding themselves in the past. If they mostly seem to accept the fact unrealistically quickly…I would argue that (except for Naruto) we haven't actually seen their reactions, only their realizations. Acceptance will be easier or harder on an individual basis for them, and will be handled in the time to come.


	2. Fresh Starts

When dawn came, visible as creeping lines of light across the canvas floor, Gaara rose and exited the tent as if this was where he had been last night, rather than years ago.

Across from the entrance was a dying fire pit, a grumbling Kankurou…and a stoic Baki. He didn't think of the man as _sensei_, but his siblings always had. He had even accompanied them to the man's memorial service, despite his personal indifference, and despite how unwelcome he had been by the rest of the attendees.

It was understandable. He hadn't been the one to kill Baki, but he had killed a lot of other people. He did not think he had been meant to hear the people's grumbling—or the mortician's black jokes about how well Gaara had kept him in business over the years.

Gaara suppressed a smirk at the memory. The moment had stuck with him for years afterward, and formed the backbone for his later sense of humor…which had only served to alarm his brother, who used to complain that it gave him flashbacks to before Gaara had gained some measure of self-control over Shukaku's rages, brought on by the uncontrolled influence of the One-Tailed Tanuki's natural _juin_ markings. The cursed seals on the demon's sandskin had allowed them to easily seal away the enemies summoned by Edo Tensei, but their uncontrolled absorption of what Uzumaki has called "Natural Energy" was also the root cause of Shukaku's infamous instability…

_**Were we really so bad?**_ the sand demon asked plaintively.

Gaara gave a tiny frown. _Yes,_ he thought back, laconic even in his own mind. His minutely darkened expression nevertheless had Kankurou edging away from him, but Gaara didn't notice. _But that was before Uzumaki was able to stabilize our madness._

Uzumaki… This sort of situation was exactly the sort of thing the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was famous for getting into. Never had the Iron Country saying "May you live in interesting times" seemed to apply to someone so much as to Naruto. Fate simply could not leave the blond alone.

Gaara had spent the night in the tent trying to dispel the illusion that he was stuck in the past through every method he knew. Even with Shukaku's assistance, there was never even the slightest tremor to indicate that the world he saw was false or constructed, and they were forced to the conclusion that, somehow, they were indeed back in Gaara's thirteen-year-old body. The timeline did indeed seem to match their trip to Konoha for the chunin exams and the invasion: For one Baki was alive. Kankurou carried his Karasu puppet on his back instead of sealed in a scroll, and Temari, when she emerged, wore a white battle dress instead of purple or black.

Whatever the reason, Gaara was sure beyond a doubt that Uzumaki had been involved. Well, they would be arriving in Konoha in two more days, and if Gaara was back, there was at least room to hope that perhaps Naruto was, too. Between the two of them, they should have little difficulty dealing with Orochimaru and the Sound ninja he had snuck into the city.

Anyway, since Gaara had more or less decided that the time change was in some obscure way caused by the blond, he contented himself that Naruto probably had the situation under control and was diligently going about his duty.

* * *

><p>"Gah!"<p>

For the second time in two days, Naruto attempted wildly to dismember one of his teammates, this time Sasuke when the other boy woke him for breakfast. The moment Sasuke reached for his shoulder, the jinchuuriki's hand shot out and closed on Sasuke's wrist. He pulled hard, nearly yanking Sasuke's arm out of it's socket at the shoulder, planted a knee on the other boy's thigh, and was bringing a kunai gut his 'attacker' before his eyes could even fully open. Kakashi caught Naruto's wrist halfway there, which seemed to jerk Naruto awake.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked muzzily, staring at Kakashi's signature steel-backed fingerless gloves.

"Maa, we'd better wake you from a distance from now on," Kakashi said breezily, without having so much as looked around at Naruto. He released the boy's wrist and let him rise, his attention apparently still entirely on the book in his other hand.

"Sorry, taichou."

Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly, still blinking himself back to consciousness. He thought Kakashi darted a look at him, just for a split-second, but he was too busy yawning as he pulled Sasuke to his feet to be sure.

"I still don't know why we stopped to sleep here," Sasuke groused, yanking his arm out of Naruto's grip. "We're only about an hour from Konoha anyway."

"When your teammate is unwell, you stop to make sure they're okay," said Kakashi sternly, for once raising his eye from his book to give Sasuke a hard look.

"What was that fit about, Naruto-baka?" Sakura added, as she started to pack away their tents.

"Fit?" Naruto repeated, though he was rather focusing on the lack of disgust in Sakura's tone as she spoke.

"You suddenly slipped like you forgot how to tree-hop and then you attacked Kakashi-sensei. And now you attacked Sasuke!" Sakura shrieked. Naruto had to wince. He hadn't been this close to Sakura in years and her voice had become _somewhat_ less shrill with time.

_Time…_ Naruto felt the Kyuubi stir at that. _Kamui is a spacetime technique._ Another growl of assent. _This is…_ He glanced around more carefully. _This is the same place we were fighting Tobi, roughly. It was pretty close to the original location of Konoha. So I guess we didn't really move through space. But…Kamui doesn't usually manipulate time, does it?_ Naruto thought hard, but couldn't remember anything in Kakashi's explanations about his Mangekyou that involved manipulation or control of time.

_**No, but space and time are linked,**_ grunted Kurama. _**And look at the facts: You're smaller again. Weaker. Slower. Less chakra than you used to have, before tapping into mine. Still head and shoulders above most of your kind, but less than you're used to.**_

_If you give me a constant trickle, would that help my body get used to your chakra again faster?_ Naruto thought back at the fox. _That should force my chakra reserves to compensate faster, right?_

_**Perhaps…or it may simply kill you, at this age. But, I suppose…**_

_Thanks, Kurama,_ said Naruto, genuinely pleased to be on good terms with the Nine-Tailed Fox after so many years. _I guess we won't have to go back to the Falls of Truth this time around._

_**No, but you should avoid visibly using my chakra if you can,**_ the Kyuubi advised. _**If my hunch is right, then you're going to be facing much the same prejudice from your villagers as before.**_

_I guess so, but I'll just have to—_

"NA-RU-TO! Stop ignoring me!" Sakura roared, trying to bash him over the head as she had so often done during the Academy.

For Naruto, though, it had been almost five years since such a 'love tap' had last occurred, and he was used to a Sakura who attacked with either Kabuto's chakra scalpels or Tsunade's enhanced strength, neither of which was he comfortable with getting near his head. Naruto flung himself backward away from Sakura, and rolled to his feet in a Shioken starting stance, back straight, arms loose, and facing his opponent only obliquely.

Sakura, however, merely stumbled when her fist didn't connect, and looked frankly baffled at how Naruto could have possibly avoided her.

"Why don't we give Naruto a few hours to collect himself?" Kakashi put in, once again for all the world appearing intent on his book. "We'll head back to the village, and I'll hand in the mission report. Once we arrive, you're dismissed."

Sasuke, who had opened his mouth to ask what the hell fighting stance the dobe had used, which was wildly different from anything he had ever used before. "Hn," he grunted instead. He picked up his backpack and hopped back into the trees.

"I'll sweep, Naruto," said Kakashi lazily, as Sakura rushed to follow Sasuke. Naruto nodded and leapt after his teammates at once. Kakashi followed more sedately, still apparently focused on his book. In reality he was studying Naruto very intently. His student seemed different from just yesterday.

_He's not moving like he usually does,_ Kakashi realized. _He's…more fluid and less predictable. All of his motions are more economical, and he's reacting to unexpected contact like a war veteran. And yet, I'm _sure_ it's still the same Naruto. I'll have to keep an eye on him… He didn't acquire those instincts overnight._

_…and where did he pick up Kushina-nee-san's Tide Fist?_

* * *

><p>Yagura heaved a sigh as he read the latest report to cross his desk. Two lone graves in Wave country, one marked with a shattered Kiri ANBU mask, the other with Kubikiribocho planted beside it. <em>Zabuza-kun…forgive me, my old friend…<em>

"Retrieve it at once," he told the guard in front of him. "Double the bounty on Kisame. We must have Samehada back. And there's no sense pretending the world doesn't know that many of the other Swords are lost. Post a reward for the return of any of them besides Kubikiribocho or Hiramekarei, along with a notice that an additional bounty will be paid for the head of whatever nin the blade is taken from."

"At once, Mizukage-sama," the man said, and left at once.

"Yagura-sama, we have word of one of the rebel bases," said another guard. "Shall we attack?"

"By no means," said Yagura, with a frown. He supposed it made sense that the usurper would have surrounded him with fanatics. Easier to make Yagura appear a fanatic himself. Instead, he took the report the guard proffered, glanced at it long enough to memorize the location, then folded it deftly into a paper crane. Then he rose to his feet, cradling the crane carefully.

"Two guards only," he ordered, taking his Kage's hat from the peg beside the door and sweeping out of the room. "Take me there."

* * *

><p>The only course of action that B and Gyuuki managed to agree on was that they should return to Kumo and check on Yugito. B had wanted to go to his brother at once with the information he had about the future, and it was a mark of how much he trusted his partner that when the Eight-Tailed Ox advised against doing so, B was willing to listen. Gyuuki was certain that they could do more good by simply taking a larger hand in events themselves, and while B had no problem with this, he didn't like the idea of manipulating his brother. Finally, they had come to the conclusion that Yugito might have some good advice regardless, and that if there was even the possibility that she and Matatabi were also back, as they were, then it indicated that there might be more allies they could count on before having to convince anybody of some wild story about being from the future.<p>

Rising from his rock without further ado, B exited the cave, grateful as ever for his sunglasses when he stepped out into the harsh sunlight. Not only did they always preserve his day-vision _and_ his night-vision when he took them off in the dark, but they also made him look damn cool. Of that, he had no doubts.

"What's today's lesson, B-sensei?" asked a rough feminine voice. Karui.

B paused. He had never been much of a sensor, but he really should have registered three people waiting outside his cave. Three…students. His personal squad. They hadn't died, as far as he knew, but it had still been months since he had seen them, relative to him, and then when Gyuuki had been extracted in the future…

"Practice on your best moves today. I've got a meeting to get to," he grunted without looking back. Then he leapt away without another word, unable to yet face the students he felt he had let down.

Just barely audible, he could hear Omoi ask the other two, "Did B-sensei just…_not_ rhyme?"

B smirked as he sped back toward the village. _I can be serious when the need calls for it, Omoi… Bakayaro! Konoyaro!_

* * *

><p>Onoki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage, sat in his office and glared at the interminable stack of paperwork in his in-tray. No matter how fast he worked, it never seemed to get any smaller…<p>

"Tsuchikage-sama, there is someone to see you." Onoki glanced up to see his secretary speaking through a crack in the door. "He claims to be an old friend. Shall I—Hey! You can't go in there!" she cried, as someone pushed past her and entered the room. Someone with bright red hair and a burgundy kimono over mesh armour.

"You!" the Tsuchikage roared. He leapt onto his desk, papers scattering and raised his hands to begin a jutsu. "I warned you to never return, on pain of death!"

Roshi met his eyes squarely, then knelt seiza and pressed his forehead to the floor. Onoki froze, his jutsu unfinished, and stared at his former squadmate.

"Roshi…?"

"Onoki," the kneeling man replied, his voice very quiet. "I…" He trailed off, apparently unable to keep going, then started again, his voice stronger, but more formal. "Jonin Roshi returning from leave, Tsuchikage-sama."

"Rise," said Onoki, settling heavily back into his seat. "And speak freely. I order it."

Roshi stood, and sighed. "I don't want to waste my last years, Onoki," he said plaintively. "I know we…disagreed over your decision to end the war, but even I can see it was the right decision. If anything, I think we're too isolationist. The people won't like it, but we should reach out. To Suna. To Kiri. Even to Konoha."

The Tsuchikage's eyes widened marginally. "Explain."

"I have been…away," said Roshi, plainly choosing his words carefully. "But I have kept an ear to the ground. I have…good reason to believe that change is coming to Kiri. Soon. And you know that even after all these years of quiet tension, Saru will be thrilled to 'move toward peace instead of war'. Suna and Konoha are allied. Kumo, I think, will follow on later. The Raikage may take some convincing but I think he can be reasoned with."

To say Onoki was surprised would be an understatement. Roshi had been one of the biggest advocates for pressing the end of the Third Great Shinobi War, even after the decimation of an entire Iwa regiment by Konoha's Yellow Flash. The man was, or at least had been, a war hawk, plain and simple. His advice to Onoki had always been to action, to battle, to conquest. And now here Roshi stood advising him to press for peace?

"I guess that…wilderness retreat…of yours really did help you finally mature," Onoki sniffed, though his pointed avoidance of the truth of Roshi's leaving—exile—was telling in itself. "I was beginning to think nothing would make you grow up, even as you grew old."

For the first time since entering the room, a smile ghosted across Roshi's creased, weatherbeaten face. "If Son and I have grown old, then so have you, old friend."

"Bah!" With their joking back and forth, things seemed to return to how they once had been, but Onoki knew that, after fifteen years apart, things would never be the same. But perhaps, he thought, noting Roshi's use of his prisoner's true name, they could be better.

* * *

><p>Yugito hadn't left her apartment since she had woken up there. The most she could bring herself to do was eat a little, before curling back up in the sun on her window-bed and meditating, poking around her own head until she found what she was hoping for. Matatabi.<p>

The Two-Tailed Cat was not restrained by any seal except the one that kept it within her body, unlike it had been in her youth. Instead, the Nibi roamed freely throughout Yugito's mindscape.

_**There you are, Kitten,**_ the great Ghost Cat purred. _**I'm very pleased to find us reunited, and free.**_

_Of course, but…_ Yugito trailed off, knowing that Matatabi would understand the question, and knowing equally well that the Two-Tails had no answers. _I just don't know what to think._

_**I've heard about cats having nine lives, but I don't think this is quite what that saying normally means,**_ the Nibi's voice seemed to yowl and hiss a little; her version of sarcasm. _**As it happens, I believe we have Uzumaki to thank for bringing us back together, Kitten.**_

_So what's our next move?_ Yugito asked, feeling her body relaxing almost despite herself, lying on her cushions and warmed equally from without by the sun, and from within by Matatabi's flames.

_**Wait for B and Gyuuki,**_ the cat replied. _**I doubt they'll be much longer…**_

A sharp tap on the window brought Yugito's head up. Sure enough, B was crouched on the sill, his face uncharacteristically serious. She slid the window open and he hopped neatly past the bed to land on the floor, grabbing a chair and spinning it around to straddle the back.

"We gots things to discuss, Yugito," B said grimly.

As it occurred to her the number of times she had heard B talk without rapping—a number she could count on one hand with fingers to spare—she sat up straight.

"You're back too." It wasn't really a question, but she needed the confirmation. B's nod said enough.

"Both of us," B added, tapping the bull's horn tattoo on his left cheek. "And quite a story, Hachibi had about one Uzumaki Naruto."

"Nibi said as much…" Yugito acknowledged. "So…what do we do?"

* * *

><p>As Yagura and his two guards drew near to within a kilometer of where the Rebels' base supposedly was, he raised a hand, mutely ordering his guards to stop. Yagura himself advanced only a dozen meters further, before he paused himself. He tossed his hooked staff onto the ground out of arms reach, and then took another deliberate step away from it. Next, he drew off the Mizukage hat, and placed it beside him. Finally, he carefully set the paper crane upon the ground in front of him, edged back slightly, and folded his legs to sit.<p>

He shut his eyes. He could not make his meaning much plainer. It would be a long while before Kiri could be trusted again in the world at large. The best he could do was make a showing of good faith, and try to avoid the execution he rightly deserved, for the sake of the greater good.

There was no sound, but after several minutes, he felt what seemed like a chance breeze. Cracking his eyes momentarily, he saw that the paper crane had vanished. Sighing, he meditated again.

_**Are—are we sure about this, Yagura-san?**_ murmured Isobu, the somewhat timid Three-Tailed Turtle. _**They could just kill us anyway…**_

_Yes…but I do not think they will,_ Yagura thought back. _What we're doing now is out of character, and if their leader is who I suspect it to be, based on future events, she will want to know why._

_**I…suppose…**_ Isobu was always nervous around strangers, perhaps one of the reasons that neither of them had noticed the manipulations of Tobi, the first time around.

Yagura sighed. _So many errors to correct…and so very little time and trust to work with. But I do not think we will get another second chance like this. Will you work with me to balance our karma as far as we can, Isobu-kun?_

_**Of course, Yagura-san.**_

"I notice that your paper-crane of peace has been folded from your war plans. What should I make of that, Yagura?" called a new voice, a woman's.

Opening his eyes again, Yagura looked up to see a beautiful red-haired woman he knew was Terumi Mei, standing some ten feet away, flanked by two blue-haired men. To her left stood the man known only as Ao, a former Hunter-nin captain and talented sensor even before one took into account the stolen byakugan behind his eyepatch. On her right, a far younger man with glasses, perhaps seventeen, whose shark-like pointed teeth would identify him as one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist even if the enormous, bandaged, double-hilted Hiramekarei on his back did not. Choujuurou, the Rebel leader's personal bodyguard.

Yagura did not move. "Precisely what it appears, Terumi-san," he answered Mei's question politely. "I am scrapping those plans, and asking for peace."

"Peace?" growled Ao, "After the bloodbath you perpetrated?"

"P-please, Ao-san," stammered Choujuurou, apparently startled by Ao's reaction. "Yondaime-san came to talk. Surely we can do him the courtesy of listening?"

"Why?" Mei asked, ignoring her companions and keeping her eyes fixed on Yagura. "We are not presently a threat to you and all of us know it."

"Because I have been made free," Yagura began, noticing Ao stiffen, "To think for myself once more. I believe it was Ao-san who first realized that I was…being manipulated," he added, inclining his head toward the older man, who now stood rigid. "He should be able to confirm not only that I am, in fact, alone save for two bodyguards some fifteen meters back, but that my chakra network is free from genjutsu once more."

"Ao?" Mei's question was unmistakably an order, and seemed to snap Ao out of whatever fugue he had been in. He raised a half-tiger seal, and the veins beside his covered eye bulged.

Ao studied Yagura with great intensity, before finally relaxing somewhat. "He is alone, Terumi-sama, as he says. And…I can no longer detect any hint that he is under the genjutsu manipulation I saw in him before." He seemed reluctant to admit it.

"I sit before you wishing to talk," Yagura cut in. "I am…not 'helpless', per se—I will not insult you by implying so—but I am seated, I am unarmed," he gestured at his staff, lying out of reach, "and I have delivered a peace symbol in good faith." He finished with his eyes on the paper crane in Mei's hands. "Can we not speak, Terumi-dono?"

By the way her eyebrows contracted, she had clearly caught the changed honorific, suitable for one noble or kage to address another. "And what would we discuss?" she asked archly.

"Cessation of hostilities," Yagura answered, with no hesitation. "Formal apologies. Reunion. Restitution. Resignation…"

All three rebels' eyes widened as the list continued; the more so, he thought, because none of them could detect a falsehood from him. He knew they couldn't, because he was being perfectly honest. Yagura was no fool. Terumi Mei had been the Godaime Mizukage in his future, and he had seen glimpses, mostly through Uzumaki, of how beloved she was by the village. There was little chance that anyone save Tobi's radicals would still accept Yagura himself as Mizukage, and he intended to see such anti-kekkei genkai radicalism stamped out. Personally if possible.

Kiri needed a leader to unite her people, and to reconnect her nation with the outside world. A leader who would visibly turn her back on the anti-kekkei genkai policies that the masked man Tobi had forced upon Yagura. A leader with a kind, if firm, hand, whom the people felt they could trust.

A leader like Mei.

All Yagura could hope for now was to try to ensure that she kept him around, once she took control. Perhaps as a special-assignment ANBU, he mused. That could work.

Terumi Mei took a few steps toward him, then sat down gracefully. "I am listening."

* * *

><p>Team 7's return to Konoha was thankfully uneventful. Kakashi checked them in at the gate, nodding to Kotetsu and Izumo on their eternal watch duty, and dismissed his team as promised to go and make his report to the Hokage by himself. He had planned to do so in any case, of course; had intended to use the opportunity to pick up entrance forms for the chunin exams for his cute little team.<p>

Now, he was curious what the Hokage might think of his observations of Naruto over the past day…

"As it is, Hokage-sama," he finished some ten minutes later, "He reminds me of no one so much as Minato-sensei, since yesterday. The same sharp eyes on everything and everyone around him, same economy of movement, same calm force when giving orders—I put Naruto on point and he about gave the other two a conniption fit when he immediately started telling them exactly where to go and what to do. But his orders were flawless; exactly what I would have given…in wartime."

The Third Hokage puffed at his pipe, unable to say much to that. "Do you think the team unready for the chunin exams then, Kakashi?" he asked instead.

"Unready? Before, Naruto was the weak link. Now, I honestly think he'll be carrying both of the other two. I haven't seen much from this…change…but honestly Hokage-sama. Not to put to fine a point on it, but he actually _hit me_."

Smoke curled as the Hokage pondered that. "Was there any change in his chakra? Could this be some effect of the Kyuubi?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Negative, Hokage-sama. Watching him tree-hop from behind with the sharingan, he seems to be expending his chakra more conservatively, indicating better chakra control than he's demonstrated in the past, but his chakra reserves are already on par with his father's in his prime. If they increased further, I'm not sure I would notice…but what chakra I saw was entirely his, pure and untainted by demonic energies. You could, perhaps, examine his seal?"

"Mmm…I will wait for Jiraiya to arrive to do so, I think," said the Hokage. "I received word recently that he planned to return during the chunin exams. Until then, continue to keep an eye on Naruto."

Kakashi bowed. "As you wish, Hokage-sama. I will deliver the forms to my students tomorrow as planned."

"Very well, Kakashi. Dismissed." The Sandaime rose and popped his aching back, shuffling over to the window to gaze at the Hokage monument. In particular, his gaze rested upon his chosen successor. "Minato…what has your son gotten himself into now?"

* * *

><p>When Naruto awoke the next morning in his same cramped, empty apartment; when he met his own gaze in the grimy bathroom mirror, he was finally forced to accept that he wasn't dreaming or experiencing an elaborate genjutsu. He had spent a good portion of the previous night discussing the situation with Kurama in his mindscape, and between them they could only come up with one explanation: They had somehow been transported back through time to when Naruto was about thirteen.<p>

Kurama had offered plenty of theories about the hows and the whys, but to Naruto it meant one thing: a second chance. If his reckoning of time was right, this was, in fact, just before the disastrous chunin exams. Before everything had gone wrong; before Jiijii had died; before Sasuke left and Sakura followed him, and Kakashi rejoined ANBU rather than deal with a new squad; before Tobi had somehow goaded Kiri into attacking Konoha while Naruto was away with Ero-sennin…

Naruto shook his head firmly, clapping both hands against his cheeks. Not this time! He looked at himself more critically in the mirror. Much as he loved this jumpsuit, it was bound to get destroyed in the days and weeks to come. He'd rather preserve it now, if possible; that meant it was time to go shopping. Perhaps he could commission a haori greatcoat like he had favored in the future, after Ero-sennin had died. Running a hand over his hair, he thought that he ought to let it grow a little, too, but there was nothing he could do about that right now.

Having decided he was going out shopping today, Naruto quickly inventoried his food stores, wallet, and ninja gear. He had enough ramen and other nonperishables to last him for a little while, though he would have to stock up on fresh food now he was back in town. There was also no coffee in the cupboards, and Naruto simply could not remember a time when he had not drunk coffee, even though he knew he had only acquired the taste after the Fall. Gama-chan was comfortably full of ryou, so he should be able to swing everything as long as he didn't get upcharged _too_ badly…which he hadn't been since he actually became a ninja, as he recalled.

His gear, however, was in rather poor shape all around compared to what he was accustomed to. He had a double handful of shuriken, a single spool of plain ninja wire, and a bunch of barely-sharpened kunai. No sealing materials, no armour to speak of, no Mie kunai, no backup chakra blade for his thigh… He sighed. His younger self didn't know any better, and he hadn't discovered most of those until later than this. Well, time to get a head start on it.

Nodding firmly, Naruto laid his orange jacket on his dresser, and set out wearing just a black tee-shirt with an orange Uzushio spiral on the front and back. Most Konoha-nin these days had forgotten what the spiral they wore meant, but Naruto knew. It was the symbol of his clan's ancestral home, and eventually it had been _his_ mark, just as Kakashi had made the henohenomoheji his own. Mentally adding a chop stamp to his list of purchases, Naruto quickly set out.

Groceries would come last, obviously. He would hit a stationary store before that to get sealing supplies so he could take his groceries home conveniently. First, then, was to restock on ninja supplies and buy or order his new jacket. Glancing along the Market street, Naruto's eye was caught by a sign. _Kotetsu Ryuu: Shinobi Apparel and Weapons_. Perfect, he could knock out two things at once.

Naruto strolled inside, hearing a bell jingle. A voice from the back of the store cried, "Welcome to Kotetsu Ryuu; be with you in just a moment!" He looked around. Clothes dominated the left of the shop, so Naruto strolled toward that side, snagging some mesh armour and gloves along the way and looking for something similar to what he had worn in the future. As he was rifling through the jackets on the rack, he paused, stunned. He lifted the hangar carefully and took in the knee-length, sleeveless orange haori coat, with a pattern of black flames around the hem, shoulders, and collar. It wasn't just similar, as he had been hoping; this was _his_ coat. The only difference was that this jacket did not read "Rokudaime Hokage" down the back. For one entertaining moment, he considered having it embroidered with those kanji anyway, but decided against it. Simply wearing such a jacket was going to draw attention, there was no need to boast so openly…

Tossing the coat over his shoulder, he picked his way back across to the half of the store that sold weapons, snagging a small basket on his way and dropping the mesh armour in. He also picked up a handful of senbon and several spools of ninja wire, and was just examining the chakra-conductive blades when he heard the proprietor came out from the back.

"Hello! I see you've found some of what you're looking for?" came the same voice from before, decidedly a young girl's. Naruto glanced around, and barely suppressed his surprise. It was Tenten! But she was so…so young! Her steel-grey eyes were softer than he remembered, and her cheeks did not bear the telltale scars of a clawed slash from fighting the Nibi. Naruto blinked, suddenly realizing that Tenten had introduced herself while he was spacing out.

"Uh, yeah! Hiya! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" He nodded at the weapons around them, then at the jacket over his shoulder. "Your shop has really good weapons _and_ stocks clothes which, I must say, are in excellent taste."

Eying his orange pants skeptically, she smirked. "Somehow I'm not surprised that you'd say that. I haven't seen you in here before, have I? Are you a rookie genin?"

Mentally scowling that he was stuck as a genin _again_, Naruto forced himself to nod. "Yeah. Hopefully not for long, though; I think Kakashi-sensei is gonna enter us in the chunin exams that are coming up."

"You think so?" she asked. "Our sensei held us back for a year so we could get more experience before allowing us to take this exam… Wait, did you say 'Kakashi'? Your sensei is Sharingan no Kakashi?"

Naruto nodded, trying to cast his mind back to how he had been at thirteen. Loud, he remembered. Not that he was exactly quiet in the future, but… Also, cheerful and boastful of eventually becoming Hokage. Well, that wouldn't be hard to fake. "Yup! Best choice to train the 'Last Uchiha' _and_ the future Hokage," he grinned, jabbing a thumb at himself to make clear who he expected to wear the big hat.

"Well, if you keep shopping here, we'll keep you well-supplied along the way," said Tenten, smiling at his apparent hyperactivity and wild dream. There was no way for her to know exactly how certain Naruto was. "So, you're in the market for a chakra blade?"

"Two, actually; an Uzu-style kukri for my mainhand and a reliable backup," Naruto said, turning his attention back to the rack in front of him. He set a kukri in the basket and began scanning for an appropriate offhand blade. "Something narrow, maybe two hands long, with a good straight-back spearpoint…ah, this one will do!" He picked up a long knife similar to what he had described and set that in his basket as well.

"You certainly seem to know your way around blades," said a gravelly voice.

"Tou-san!" Tenten beamed.

"Hello, Tenten," he said, raising a hand to pat her on the head. As he was only a few centimeters taller than she, it might have been funny, if it weren't for the additional fact that he wearing a blacksmith's apron and was broader than Gai-sensei or Asuma-sensei had ever been, with hands that looked to be big enough to wrap around Naruto's _legs_ with centimeters to spare. He didn't think he had ever met Tenten's father before, but that was no excuse for being rude, was it?

He bowed politely. "I suppose so, sir. I'm no expert, really, but I suppose you could say that I know what I'm looking for." He glanced around the weapons side of the shop again, but saw nothing close to his Mie kunai. He hadn't really expected to, but after finding the jacket it wouldn't have surprised him. "Actually, sir, I'm looking for one more thing in particular that you don't seem to have in stock; perhaps you can help me?"

"Must be something pretty specific if I don't already carry it," he grunted good-naturedly, and Naruto put on his most winning smile. "What is it you're after?"

"A certain style of kunai, in a matter of speaking," said Naruto, picking his words carefully. "The blade is about so long," he gestured with his hands far enough apart to indicate that it was about half again as long as a standard-issue Konoha kunai, "With two additional prongs on either side to protect the hands and help disarm the enemy. That's why I call 'em Mie kunai. The handle is longer and thicker than standard also, with a heavy ring at the end; and all weighted and balanced for throwing. If it's made of the chakra-conductive metal," he tilted his head at the rack he was still standing in front of, "Even better."

Tenten's father stared at him, then walked wordlessly over to the counter, and lifted a box down from a high shelf. He set it on the counter as Naruto and Tenten followed, curious.

He slid the box over to Naruto. "Is this what you're picturing?"

Naruto opened the box carefully, and found what was, doubtless, one of his father's old orders, simply awaiting the Yondaime's personal Hiraishin seal to be marked on the handle before it could see use.

"This is really close, yeah!" he said, making himself sound excited that the shop had an example of what he wanted, without letting any surprise seep into his voice. "I'd want a round dozen at least, though. Do you have any more?"

Higurashi-san stared some more as Naruto picked up the Mie kunai easily, and began testing the edge and balance. He twirled it from a forward to a reverse grip several times, then bounced it in his palm to check the weight.

Then he nodded, apparently satisfied, laid the Mie kunai gently back in the box that Higurashi-san had presented, and asked, "How much?"

Higurashi-san didn't answer right away. His eyes flicked from Naruto's face, to the Mie kunai, to the flame-pattern on the jacket he was carrying. After several long moments, the man seemed to decide something.

"Tenten will total up what's in your basket," he growled finally. "That jacket, I don't think I would ever have sold, so consider it yours on the house. As for this…" he glanced down at the Mie kunai in its box, "If you're going to want as many as you say, I'll let you take this one with you today if you place the order."

Tenten lifted the basket from his arms and began counting out what it would cost. Naruto nodded to Higurashi, and leaned on the counter as the blacksmith pulled a pad and pen from a pocket of his apron, ready to take down specifics.

"Let's call it two dozen for the first order," said Naruto. "I'd like them basically identical, except the prongs should be straight, not curved like this one." Naruto gestured to indicate what he meant, and Higurashi nodded his understanding. "The chunin exams start in less than a week; do you think you can get me a few by then?"

"Three of your new style, plus this one you're taking today," said Higurashi.

"That's fine," Naruto nodded. "There's a month's delay between the second and third rounds of the exams, so that should be plenty of time."

"How do you know there's a month's delay?" asked Tenten. "Our sensei won't tell us anything about the chunin exams, and none of the current chunin that I know will either."

"Ehh…" said Naruto, thinking fast. "The…old man let that one slip," he adlibbed quickly. "But then he realized what he was saying and that I was still in the room, and clammed up before I could get anything else out of him." He snapped his fingers, to all appearances disappointed that he hadn't been better able to con the Hokage himself.

"Either way, you're correct. I should be able to fill at least half your order then, easily," said Higurashi-san, making some calculations in the corner of his notepad. "If you'll pay for part of this order up front, I'll take the balance on completion. Tenten-chan, what's his total so far?"

"Um, ignoring the jacket and the specialty item, he's got two chakra blades, some wire, senbon, mesh armour, and fingerless, steel-backed gloves. I make it…4500 ryou the basket," she rattled off.

"Plus your order of two dozen…Mie kunai…at the best price I can figure… I place your commission at about 24,000 ryou. We'll say a third of that today plus your basket brings you to 12,500." He glanced up, perhaps expecting Naruto to gasp in shock or protest that he could not afford it.

Naruto wasn't even looking up, instead focused on carefully counting out rolls of notes from Gama-chan. When he reached the correct figure, he counted it again, and then passed it carefully across the counter.

Both Tenten and her father stared at him.

"Eheheh…" he chuckled embarrassedly, scratching the back of his neck. "I uh…I don't have a bank account, so I kinda have to carry all my money with me."

Higurashi merely nodded, and began smoothing out some of the more wrinkled bills so they would stow in the till. Tenten was not so reticent.

"How in the world do you have that much cash as a genin!?"

"Ano…my first C-rank mission was misranked. We fought the Kiri rogue-nin Momochi Zabuza and his apprentice." He shrugged. "Since then, Wave country has been funneling us money and business to make up for the deception."

"You fought Momochi Zabuza?" Tenten repeated weakly.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei did, mostly. We fought his apprentice, the ice-user."

Tenten seemed speechless, so Naruto took the opportunity to shrug on his new jacket, gather up his purchases, and wave energetically at the father and daughter. "Thanks for everything, Higurashi-san, Tenten-chan!"

Stowing everything in his jacket for now, he set off to find a stationary shop and then a grocery market.

* * *

><p>By the next day, most of the village seemed to have rapidly adjusted to Naruto's new wardrobe. Not that it was wildly different overall, he supposed, since you couldn't see his mesh armour under his Uzumaki tee-shirt, or his new weapons under his jacket, and the jacket itself was still, of course, orange. He had somewhat expected the old man to demand to see him, but there had been no such summons, so perhaps the Hokage had no comments about Naruto's new fashion statement.<p>

…or perhaps he had something to do with the way Kakashi-sensei had been tailing Naruto ever since they got back to the village.

Naruto had been concerned at first, thinking it was an enemy, but after he had accidentally-on-purpose stumbled across his watcher and discovered his teacher, he realized that something he had said or done must have unnerved his ever-paranoid mentor. Well, there was nothing he could do about the past—not that such a sentence didn't merit a huge smirk—so he resolved to put Kakashi's mind at ease by acting like his usual self. And so he had refrained from making any seals last night, and ignored his newly-bought groceries in favor of a dinner of ramen from Ichiraku's, which was still resolutely the best meal available in either version of his past.

Naruto had held off on training for the time being too, since Kakashi seemed content to let them test at the level they were at. The chunin exams would be starting tomorrow, which also meant that many of the candidates should be arriving over the next twenty-four hours…

No sooner had he thought that, as he crossed the road, head bowed in concentration, was he abruptly slammed into. With the balance he had come to possess over the course of years' training in Shioken taijutsu and Gama-ryuu kenjutsu, Naruto kept his feet easily. The person who had walked into him, by contrast, fell to the floor.

"Hey, watch it, shrimp!"

Naruto blinked in shock and looked down at the person he had collided with. It was a brown-haired boy wearing a baggy, black jumpsuit with a twin-pointed hood and a Sunagakure hitai-ite. He also had some stupid-looking purple makeup on his face, and was carrying a large bundle of bandages, which Naruto recognized as the puppet Crow. He promptly extended a hand to help Kankurou back to his feet.

The boy took it, scowling, but Naruto was already looking past him to his companion—a tall pretty blonde with her hair tied in four distinctive tails. She wore a white dress with mesh around the collar, and her hitai-ite around her neck. Unable to resist the opportunity to act a little characteristically ridiculous, he swept Temari a deep bow and extended a hand. When she took it, he even brushed a kiss across her knuckles.

"Uzumaki Naruto, at your service, good Suna-nin," he said grandly. He glanced back at Kankurou and added, "Sorry about the trouble. You guys are here for the chunin exams, I guess?"

Temari introduced herself and her brother with a smile, and answered, "Yes, our sensei is checking us in right now."

Where was Gaara? "Er, don't you need a team of three for the exams?" he said, feigning awkwardness. Temari and Kankurou suddenly froze, as Naruto felt a presence behind him. "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?" he asked Temari. She nodded faintly, and he turned around to see Gaara looking him right in the eye. They were of a height, and Naruto watched Gaara's eyes carefully as the other boy took in his jacket. That look in his eye…recognition? Did that mean Gaara remembered the future too? How could he be sure?

"Hang on," Naruto said, tilting his head as he looked at Gaara. "I think I've heard of you guys. Yeah, the Sand Siblings; Temari, Kankurou…and you must be Gaara!"

The other boy just stared back passively.

"Wait, you've heard of Gaara and you're not scared of him?" Kankurou asked, weakly.

"Nah, of course not!" said Naruto, chuckling. "Look at him, with those rings around his eyes; I bet he's as harmless as a _tanuki!_"

Temari and Kankurou seemed too appalled to speak.

"They are not a creature to underestimate," Gaara spoke at last. "But no doubt you know that. From the look of you, I can tell you are as sly as a _fox_."

Naruto's grin widened so much that his eyes squinted. This _was_ his Gaara. "You know, I _do_ get that a lot. Or I used to," he chuckled. "And maybe there's something to that old saying about the fox and the tanuki, ne? Say, you wanna get some ramen? My treat!"

"…Yes. Thank you." Gaara followed him up the street without another word, leaving his siblings staring after them.

"Did Gaara…just make a friend?" Kankurou whispered. Temari nodded silently.

"Temari, Kankurou, why aren't you coming?" Gaara called back, Naruto bobbing impatiently beside him. "The way you're always hanging back, it's like you're afraid I'm going to kill you."

"…Did Gaara just tell a joke!?" Kankurou whimpered. Unable to articulate a response, Temari just grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him after their younger brother and his new friend.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** The markings on Shukaku are supposedly "natural" cursed seal markings; the same thing that cause the transformation and madness in Juugo and Orochimaru's other cursed-marked servants. It makes sense to me as a way to explain Shukaku's insanity, early on.

Naruto's reactions to being touched or awoken unexpectedly are pretty typical of PTSD, even if he tends to otherwise handle himself pretty well. It's always worse when one's guard is down. Here, it's a mark of the time he spent in a much more dangerous future, just as him calling Kakashi "taichou" (meaning 'captain') reflect his somewhat-different relationship with the man in the years that have now been undone.

Yagura's, B's, and Yugito's scenes pretty much wrote themselves. Roshi's was a little more intricate, because I had to kinda backbuild his relationship with the Tsuchikage Onoki. The way I see it, they were teammates once, but had a falling-out at the end of the last war when Onoki and Sarutobi finally agreed to a peace treaty. Roshi stormed out, and it was a mark of their old friendship and his worth a jinchuuriki that instead of being labeled a rogue, Onoki instead declared him 'on permanent leave'. Now, though, Roshi knows that Iwa's and the world's best odds lie in alliance.

"Mie" means "triple"; Naruto is referring to Triple Kunai, which is his name for the type of Kunai the Fourth Hokage favored. The Fourth instead called them Hiraishin Kunai, but Future!Naruto preferred not to tip his hand with the name. Higurashi appears to be the fanon-determined family name for Tenten, and nothing in canon contradicts this so…there we are, I guess. I decided to call their family shop "Kotetsu Ryuu", meaning "Steel Dragon". Also, the wiki tells me that a ryou is worth about 10 yen, so I toyed with what I thought were reasonable prices for Naruto's gear. Aside from the Mie kunai, Naruto's equipment is approximately the weapons I would personally favor…though I would probably also have a couple of trench knives like Asuma's.

I am having so much fun writing Gaara; you guys just have no idea. The 'old saying' Naruto refers to is, roughly: "A fox and a tanuki matching their wits", meaning two sly characters trying to outsmart one another.


	3. Plans and Changes

"Sooo… Do you have any idea what's going on?" Naruto asked Gaara as he set down his third drained bowl of ramen.

"The Chunin Exams," Gaara replied in his usual monotone, still halfway through his first bowl. "Delicious noodle soup. You, eating like a savage."

Naruto shrugged unapologetically. "Everything still on schedule?"

"So far as I am aware," Gaara allowed. "Given our situation, I do not think it unreasonable to assume that those…between us…may also have returned."

Naruto froze with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, the noodles from his fourth bowl swaying gently. Then he shrugged and returned to eating. "Probably," he managed through a mouthful. "We'll have to try to get in contact with B before he messes anything up."

"I think he will be the least of our worries, Naruto," Gaara pressed, pushing his finished bowl away and turning slightly to look at his companion. "I believe that _all_ of us may have…returned. We are spread across _every_ nation, if you recall."

Naruto shrugged again without pausing as he inhaled the remainder of his noodles. "Have you told anyone?" he asked, between setting down his chopsticks and picking up the bowl.

Gaara shook his head. "There is no one who I wish to tell, at present. Have you?"

With yet another roll of his shoulders, Naruto jerked his head toward the Hokage's tower. "I'm gonna end up telling Jiijii. Kakashi-sensei already suspects something's up—that's why he's following us."

"I had wondered," said Gaara, with a breath of sardonicism.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish, "I uh…_woke up_ in the middle of tree hopping, and he grabbed me as I fell. I reacted on instinct. He hasn't said anything to me, but I'm sure he's told Jiijii." He nodded at the Hokage Residence again, making clear who he meant by "Jiijii".

Gaara grunted. Temari and Kankurou were simply staring between him and Naruto, open-mouthed, their first orders of ramen cooling in front of them. Rolling his eyes, Naruto made his voice eager and young-sounding, "Are you guys gonna finish those?" He indicated their food. "Because I will…" They both blinked and returned to eating. Naruto turned away to 'pout'.

"What are you going to do about…about your predecessor?" Naruto added quietly to Gaara. Gaara had become the Godaime Kazekage after his father, the Yondaime, had been killed and impersonated by Orochimaru during these very Chunin exams. By the fact that Gaara was here and had indicated the plans for the invasion were still on schedule, the replacement would happen sometime within the next month.

"I do not believe the…switch…has yet occurred," Gaara replied, his voice only as low as ever, knowing that Temari and Kankurou were unlikely to try very hard to overhear him at this point in—the past? the present? "If everything proceeds as planned, I expect that allowing it to happen will be…necessary."

Naruto put down his bowl, and placed a comforting hand on Gaara's shoulder. Temari and Kankurou both choked, but Gaara only shut his eyes momentarily.

"Your…concern is appreciated," he whispered to Naruto. "But we all must do what is necessary. A second chance does not mean that all cannot go wrong again."

Naruto nodded firmly and got to his feet. "I've got the bill today, Teuchi-oji-san," he told the proprietor, who nodded. "I'll see you three in the Exams," he added to the siblings, and strolled out of the ramen stand.

"We will need to make plans, Uzumaki," Gaara's voice carried out to him through the curtain.

"Sure, sure," said Naruto. "You know where to find me."

As Naruto walked away, he heard Temari haltingly ask Gaara if he had somehow met Naruto before. He could almost see the invisible smirk on Gaara's face as he said that this was his first meeting with a brother by circumstance. Naruto sighed and placed both his hands behind his head, drawing his orange coat open so the red Uzumaki spiral showed clearly on his chest.

Gaara had certainly given him plenty to think about. If the other jinchuuriki were indeed back, then he had a lot more work to do a lot sooner than he thought. There was no time now, but his month between the second and third stages of the exams was going to be busy as hell. This would mean stepping up his plans…he could no longer delay in working out his Hiraishin formula—bound to be different now than it had been before—because he would need the Hiraishin to reliably visit other countries during the month break, and still be back in Konoha in time for the exams. He wondered idly if Gaara would accompany him. Together they would make a more convincing argument if they were stopped along the line—even though Suna and Konoha were allied, nin rarely found friends between them. Or rather, that had been the case until Naruto and Gaara made it otherwise as…brothers by circumstance…

Naruto's smile stretched his eyes again.

* * *

><p>Less than a block away, Hyuuga Hinata wondered what Naruto was pondering, and what had made him so happy. Whatever it was, she was glad of it—Naruto often plastered a grin on his face, especially when he was troubled, but it was often transparent to one who had watched him as much as she had. For once, she had not been…reconnoitering him…she had simply been out in the district and noticed his face in the crowd which, as ever, parted slightly around him. He did not seem to care however; this smile was completely genuine, and it lifted her heart even as she felt butterflies in her stomach, and a lingering anxiety that <em>she<em> would certainly never cause him to smile like that… Oh, what if he was so happy because he had finally gotten a date with Sakura?

Before she could work herself into a real depression, Naruto paused. Hinata was not as good at lip-reading as many of her clan, but she had activated her byakugan almost by instinct when she had noticed him, and she was something of an expert on Naruto. She saw him mouth to himself, "Why am I being followed by _two_ people?", and she froze, panicking, wondering how he could possibly have detected her.

Before she could carry the thought further—for instance, to wonder why there was anyone else following him—Naruto had slipped into a nearby alleyway, and then vanished. How had he done that? Naruto had so much chakra that he seemed to glow like a beacon to her dojutsu. At times, she thought he might even have more chakra than their sensei, but she supposed the teachers must simply be too talented at hiding their strength for her poor potential to detect. She turned her head this way and that, despite it being unnecessary to do so with her byakugan active, but she couldn't see Naruto's distinctive signature anywhere.

"Hinata?" said Naruto's voice.

Hinata squeaked and whirled around to find that Naruto was adhering to the wall behind her, and had been crouching precisely in the byakugan's secret blind spot. As she tried to calm down from wondering frantically how he could have possibly known she was watching him, it suddenly occurred to her instead that she was alone in an alley with her crush, who was looking at her curiously. She shut her eyes, deactivating her bloodline, and blood rushed into her cheeks. The world spun under her feet as it all became too much, and she fainted.

Her last conscious recollection was of Naruto's voice saying, "Hina—oh, _damn_!"

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, Naruto was glaring at the gates of the Hyuuga estate. He had knocked as well as he could given that he was carrying the unconscious Hinata, and when a voice from within had inquired who he was, he had announced himself without thinking. The Hyuuga within had, of course, promptly left without opening the door when he heard that Uzumaki Naruto was knocking, merely calling back that he had better not prank the compound. It appeared the fool had not even bothered to use his byakugan to see past the door, because he hadn't made any mention of Naruto holding his heiress.<p>

Scowling, Naruto weighed his options. If he knocked again, they were likely to get angry. Seeing him with the unconscious Hinata, they were likely to jump to the worst conclusions. Naruto was not about to take a beating for no reason, but fighting Hinata's family would not endear him to anybody. He could sneak in, he had no doubt, but being caught _inside_ the Hyuuga compound with the unconscious heiress in his arms somehow struck him as an even worse prospect. He couldn't take her back to his own place—for one thing, she would probably faint straight away again if she woke up in his bed—and he certainly wasn't about to just leave her here on the street.

"Excuse me." Naruto's frustrated musings were interrupted by a cold, clipped voice, and he turned to see Hinata's father, the clan head Hyuuga Hiashi, sweeping toward him. "May I ask what you are doing outside my compound, holding my daughter?" His tone made it abundantly clear that the question was an order.

Naruto inclined his head as respectfully as he could with the girl in his arms. His jacket spread around his ankles, and he saw Hiashi's eyes dart toward the black flames on the hem.

"My apologies, Hiashi-dono," Naruto said smoothly, drawing the Hyuuga head's eyes back to his face. He was pleased that he could actually read the surprise in the older man's expression—the Hyuuga were masters of concealing their thoughts—but the combination of addressing him by his given name and an honorific suitable for one clan head to another, coming from who he obviously saw as a street ruffian, had given him pause.

Naruto smirked internally. Seeing people's reaction to his political interactions had always been amusing when he was Hokage, for the brief period before open war, and returning to the past promised to extend that entertainment. "I was in the market and felt myself being observed. It made me nervous, but when I found it was my classmate I relaxed." He shifted the girl slightly in his arms. "Evidently I startled her, however."

Hiashi was looking at him a little suspiciously, and he was plainly watching for any tic or sign that Naruto was lying, but overall Naruto was a little surprised by the Hyuuga head's attitude toward him. He would have expected far more hostility, even if it was cold—the man had been adamantly against his assuming the Hokage's seat in the future, and had remained a prominent devil's advocate during the war, even when he actually agreed with Naruto's decisions.

"I know that I can leave her safely in your hands, Hiashi-dono," Naruto added, as the silence stretched. He extended his arms slightly so that Hiashi could retrieve his daughter, and the motion seemed to decide Hiashi on a course of action.

"Please, bring her inside, Uzumaki-san." He strode past Naruto and opened the door with a flash of chakra. A quick glance at the inside as he passed revealed a number of seal tags attached to the inside. He couldn't read all of them so quickly, but it appeared that a given one would react if someone knocked, another if the door was opened without chakra identification or with the wrong signature, and yet another—the one currently glowing—if a correct signature was used. Presumably the latter prevented some minor sort of alarm from being sounded, which an unauthorized access would set off.

Naruto considered all this as he followed the Hyuuga head down two hallways, ignoring the dirty looks he received from Hyuuga main family and branch family members alike. Really, their whole clan divide was ridiculous, because all of them seemed to have that same general hauteur. Except Hinata, of course. She had always been sweet to him, in the other future, and he had an inkling that she might have been sweet _on_ him, but had never had much time to devote to things like dating. Still, Hinata had been one of his precious people in the future, and he would take care of her now.

His thoughts were cut off again—he seemed to be losing himself in thought more and more often lately—by Hiashi sliding open a door on their right, and directing Naruto inside. He entered as instructed, and promptly blushed when he realized he had walked into Hinata's bedroom. Precious person or not, this wasn't quite proper. Even Ero-sennin would have objected…

Naruto cut off that train of thought ruthlessly. His…second teacher…was still one of his sore points, and he knew it, but he couldn't afford to start crying in front of Hiashi. Instead, he laid Hinata gently on her bed and immediately backed out of the room again. He then asked politely, "Was there something else you needed, Hiashi-dono?"

Hiashi said nothing, but slid the door closed again and turned away in a manner that indicated Naruto was to follow him. Naruto gave a tiny sigh, but did so. The clan head led him to a small sitting room, then knelt seiza on a mat and gestured for Naruto to sit opposite him. Hiashi clicked his fingers, and a panel on the side wall slid back, admitting a branch family member laden with a tea service and short bottle of sake.

Naruto said nothing as he was served the tea, recognizing _what_ his host was doing, though not why. This was how he had been greeted by the more formal of his allies in the other future; often by the heads of the Aburame or Akimichi—Konoha's other two noble clans once the Uchiha fell—or by the daimyo or visiting dignitaries. He had never, however, received or even expected such from Hyuuga Hiashi.

When Hiashi, too, had been served, Naruto inclined his head respectfully and raised the teacup to his lips, holding it gingerly with both hands and waiting for his host to drink first. This was both good manners, and good sense—they had been served from the same vessel, so if Hiashi drank, the tea was unlikely to be poisoned. Not that the Hyuuga had any particular reason to poison him, or that poisoning the tea was the only way to accomplish it if they did wish to…

Naruto mentally shook himself. He was being overly paranoid. He was in the past, in a world not yet at war. He had done nothing to merit assassination yet, and nobody except the Hokage, Jiraiya, and Kakashi even knew who he really was. In any case, poison was dishonorable, and would be out of character for the Hyuuga, who thought their nobility unimpeachable.

He drank his tea slowly, savoring it—a finer quality than he would be able to enjoy for some time again—until both their cups were dry, and still neither of them had said a word. As the tea service was cleared away and the sake bottle left with two dishes, Hiashi at last met Naruto's eye instead of gazing impassively into the middle distance.

The branch member left, bowing, and slid the door shut behind him. When Hiashi didn't move, Naruto made to serve the sake, against tradition. This seemed to jar his host from a reverie, and his hand shot out to gracefully take up the bottle first. He served Naruto first, then himself, and set the bottle back between them.

"It would seem I have…underestimated you, Uzumaki-san," said Hiashi at last.

Naruto tilted his head, unashamed to show his confusion. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand, Hiashi-dono."

"You have…a reputation as a prankster, of course, and something of a…" Hiashi hesitated, though Naruto couldn't tell if it was from choosing his words or concern that he might give offense. "A ne'er-do-well," he finished.

Naruto blinked. Perhaps both? He shook his head slightly to rid it of that thought. "I…see…" he temporized, indicating that the clan head should continue.

Hiashi seemed to ponder his next words, then said, "Please correct me if I am mistaken, Uzumaki-san, but given your attire and choice of address, I cannot help but believe you may be more…aware of your origins than is commonly believed."

Naruto snorted, he couldn't help himself. He took his dish of sake and drained it, then replied, "There is nothing to correct in your impression, Hiashi-dono." Mixing the polite with the uncouth was something that came naturally to Naruto, and he never hesitated to do so.

"I see," Hiashi echoed. "And is the Hokage aware of this?"

"If he isn't yet, he will be soon," said Naruto, carelessly. "The old man isn't stupid, and he sees a lot with that crystal ball of his."

"And are you, yourself, aware that you were followed here?" Hiashi pressed.

"I am aware of one watcher, by whom I do not feel threatened. Are there others by whom I would be?" Naruto shot back.

Hiashi's byakugan pulsed and released so quickly that the veins of his temple did not even bulge, and Naruto would not have noticed if he weren't so familiar with the particular sheen the Hyuuga's white eyes took on when the bloodline was active.

"No, the only people nearby who have an interest of you are your teacher, and my daughter." Hiashi leaned forward. "May I ask what your intentions are toward my daughter?"

Naruto stared, glad he had finished his drink, because he would likely have choked at that monent. "Intentions? We're both twelve!" he exclaimed. Kurama huffed a laugh, somewhere in the recesses of Naruto's mind. Hiashi seemed to relax, but only very slightly.

"You must be aware by now that my daughter thinks quite highly of you. Until today, I must confess I disapproved. I do not think that Hinata is strong enough to succeed me." Naruto's eyes flashed at the implied insult to his precious person, and Hiashi continued more quietly, "But having observed you today, Uzumaki-san, you seem far more mature than you are given credit for. You remind me, if I may say so, of your father nearly as much as your mother, now."

Naruto felt his eyebrows contract, but he said nothing.

"Let me rather ask, then, what you _think_ of Hinata," said Hiashi. "It is common knowledge that you struggled in the Academy, but still you graduated, and it is plain to me that you have made great strides since then. What is your opinion of my daughter?"

"I think that she is a lot stronger than anyone realizes," Naruto replied at once. "Herself included. I understand that many of your clan dislike her apparent timidity and gentle nature, but I think they are great strengths undermined by a lack of confidence…which she lacks because she has so rarely been told, in her life, that she has done well. Her self-esteem suffers each time that she is told, not how to improve or what she has done correctly, but only that she is not good enough.

"Hinata is a kind soul and would not readily battle for conquest. She dislikes causing others harm, and would more happily learn to cooperate so that people can live in peace. But, as the Shodai himself wrote, 'The central tenet of the Will of Fire is that love is the key to peace. Although battle is often central to a shinobi's existence, it must be remembered always that violence is _not_ strength and compassion is _not_ weakness.' All of the Hokage have believed in that message, and so do I.

"Then, not even twenty years ago, the Yondaime gave a speech which I will paraphrase: 'Only when a person has something precious to protect can they become truly strong.'

"Hinata will not fight for herself, because she has been raised to believe that she is worthless. But if she were to fight to protect the people she loves—her sister, her cousin, her village—you would see her become a tigress."

Hiashi was openly staring. Naruto got to his feet, and inclined his head yet again. Future or past, he didn't bow to anyone, but there was no need to be disrespectful. "Good day, Hiashi-dono."

Hiashi remained sitting on the cushion, his sake dish untouched, until dinnertime, ruminating on the young blond boy's words, and wondering if he was really the same boy who had graffitied the Hokage Monument only a few months before.

* * *

><p>Terumi Mei swept into Kirigakure like a queen. She wore the Mizukage's hat and robe, altered to accentuate her generous curves, and a smile that was at once kindly and firm. She was flanked by her retainer, Choujuurou, with Hiramekarei on his back, and by an ANBU with a mask painted to resemble a turtle. Ao strode along behind her, grumbling at his usual position being usurped, but even he had grudgingly agreed that having an ANBU visible at Mei's shoulder would help give the impression they wanted: a Water country willing to look unified, behind a leader standing for reunification and the end of the civil war.<p>

Within their entourage was a casket with a window over the face, showing the face—peaceful in death—of Midorikatabami Yagura. His trademark hooked staff was just visible, apparently clasped in his hands.

As they crossed the lake to the Mizukage's tower, the Turtle-masked ANBU open the door and swept Mei a bow before vanishing in a haze of shimmering mist. Ao moved back up to her left side as she sat down at the kage's desk as though her appointment to the position was a foregone conclusion. She folded her hands upon it calmly, and waited for the daimyo's messengers to arrive.

* * *

><p>Kakashi was nearing his wit's end. Constantly watching Naruto doing nothing was frustrating enough in itself, if only because Kakashi would not have believed it for a second even before…whatever had changed. Naruto trying to play innocent now, when he had changed his wardrobe, equipment, and apparently his entire attitude, and could actually slip away sometimes if Kakashi wasn't careful, was just sad. The rather pathetic attempts to pretend that nothing was different, even as his clothes and movements and ability to use Shunshin silently contradicted him, actually convinced Kakashi more than ever that whatever the change was, there was no impostor—this was still Naruto.<p>

Naruto had carried Hinata back home after she had collapsed, in itself not unusual. What was unusual was that Hyuuga Hiashi had invited Naruto inside, where he had remained for nearly half an hour. When the blond had emerged, he had been unescorted—also unusual—and appeared deep in thought until he realized that he was out in the street, at which point his face carefully blanked.

It was strange. With the new gear Naruto had bought, he should be training incessantly if he planned to use them in the exam, but instead he seemed entirely confident. Indeed, it seemed more as if he was simply picking up things he already knew how to use. And then there was the fact that he had bought one of his father's old Hiraishin kunai from the blacksmith, and had apparently placed an order for more of them. Between that and his new coat, could Naruto possibly know about his parents? And when had Naruto learned Shunshin no jutsu anyway? His use of it to startle Hinata, apparently having sensed her watching him, had been way beyond genin level. Was it possible he had just been holding back ever since the Academy? But why do that, and why change it now?

Following his student with his book out, simply so that he would not seem out of character if he was spotted, Kakashi noted idly that Naruto seemed to be heading for his apartment. Well, that would make him easier to keep track of. Sure enough, his student hopped to the rooftop, then jumped and adhered to the wall of his building with far more ease than Kakashi would have expected a mere week ago. He paused for a moment outside his own window, likely to bypass some of his rather ingenious pranks-turned-traps, then slipped inside. After giving him ten minutes to settle in and get complacent about being followed, Kakashi vanished—to the untrained eye, anyway—and appeared on a rooftop across the street with an unblocked line-of-sight to Naruto's window.

Inside, he saw the blond puttering about with a kettle for tea, or more likely, for ramen. Sure enough, Naruto retrieved a styrofoam cup of dehydrated noodles from his cupboard, not unlike he had done many other nights under Kakashi's and other ANBUs' watches, before the Hokage had deemed Naruto competent enough to live without the constant supervision. As he waited for the water to boil, though, Naruto broke routine by grabbing a cutting board and kitchen knife, and quickly dicing up a carrot and a spring onion. When he poured the boiling water into the noodles, he also quickly added the vegetables and a few slices of narutomaki—of _course_ it would be narutomaki—then cracked an egg in, before covering it to let it cook. Kakashi blinked. That was…not necessarily beyond Naruto's culinary skill, but it struck him as something the boy simply wouldn't have thought of, not long ago.

While waiting for his food to be ready, Naruto vanished into his bedroom, then returned to the kitchen table with a scroll, ink, and brush. He spread the paper out on the table and promptly began scribbling. At one point he got up, measured his own height against the doorframe, then sat back down. When three minutes had passed, he pushed the work aside, inhaled his dinner, then took up the brush once more.

From where he stood, Kakashi couldn't see what his student was scribbling, so he jumped over to the building just as Naruto had done earlier. He padded higher up the wall, and leaned down slightly to peer into Naruto's window near the ceiling. And nearly fell off the building. _Was Naruto…_

_…doing math!?_

He was unable to keep himself from staring. What could his student possibly be doing? Was this linked to his odd behavior somehow? Naruto had never cared about academics, even when he was in the Academy—he was too much of a hands-on learner. And yet here he was, intently going over equations and nibbling the end of his brush as he checked his work.

From what Kakashi could see, not all of it was simple math, either; some of it was based on what he thought might be Naruto's own height and mass, but there were other calculations that looked like jerk vectors and fluid displacement—the sort of thing Kakashi had seen on the desks of Ninjutsu developers, not twelve-year-old genin. He simply sighed. Yet more suspicious behavior…with no grounds for confrontation. The only thing truly particularly suspect about Naruto at all was the piece of…evidence?…Kakashi had picked from Naruto's jacket when the boy had hugged him the first day he began acting strangely. Naruto hadn't seemed to notice it missing, but both Kakashi and the Hokage had been gravely concerned.

Kakashi hopped away from Naruto and spared a few hours to check up on his other students, but neither was acting any differently than usual, or than expected. Sasuke was training almost to exhaustion—he should really make a point of telling him to go easy with the exams only a few days away—and Sakura seemed to be pacing frantically around her room and chewing her hair. Well, he hadn't been planning on it, but perhaps he should call a team meeting tomorrow. It would be the day before the exams began, and it looked like they could do with both some encouragement and a reminder that they were a team. Kakashi heaved a sigh. Hopefully the latter would be something he could eventually stop having to _remind_ them of.

* * *

><p>The day of the chunin exams dawned bright, and a little chilly for Konoha, which of course meant that the temperature would still be considered extremely mild. Civilians might wear a thin jacket, but nin were unlikely to even notice the slightly larger amount of chakra they would need to regulate in order to keep comfortable.<p>

Naruto met up with Sakura and Sasuke con his way out of _Kotetsu Ryuu_. Higurashi-san had outdone himself, providing not three Mie kunai as he had promised, but four. Naruto had one of them out to test the weight and balance—perfect, as expected—when he nearly bumped into his teammates. Sasuke looked the same as ever, but Sakura had her long hair pulled back in a tight braid.

"Oh, hey guys!" He exclaimed. "Great; we can head over to the Academy together! I wonder why they hold it there?" He had a good idea, of course, but he was getting better at pretending around his teammates. "I guess probably there isn't anywhere else to administer a written test to so many people," he answered his own question before the others could.

"Written test?" Sasuke repeated, skeptically.

"Well, why else would they tell us to go there instead of the stadium?" Naruto demanded.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, but said quietly, "He has a point."

Sasuke's lips twisted, but he gave a reluctant nod. His eyes found the knife sitting easily in Naruto's grip. "What's that, Loser?"

"Mie kunai," Naruto answered, as though he had taken the insult as an endearment. "Actually…" he reached into his coat and produced another one, subtly squeezing them and imprinting his seal on the handle of each. "I got one for each of you, as a celebration for entering the chunin exams! They're really good kunai!" He extended the knives ring-first, and each of his teammates took them slowly. Once his hands were empty, he stuffed one in his pocket and scratched the back of his head with the other. "I figure you can use 'em in a pinch and today's a good day for it, but you might just want to keep 'em as as a memento. Just make sure you pick 'em back up if you have to throw 'em. They were expensive."

Both of his teammates were staring at the knives, wondering why in the world _Naruto_ would have bought something like this. With the pay they had received from their A-rank mission, it wasn't as if he didn't have the money, but it just seemed…strange, somehow.

"I wanted to get one for each of us," Naruto continued, apparently oblivious to their confusion, but slowly putting them more at ease with each word. "As a sort of Team 7-thing. But I could only afford two." A harmless lie. With any luck, he wouldn't face anything today he couldn't handle without resorting to Hiraishin. Once he used Hiraishin, the game would be up—unless there were no witnesses whatsoever, he would never be able to talk his way out of being able to perform the Yondaime's signature, legendary, _lost_ spacetime ninjutsu.

It had taken him almost eighteen months to recreate it in the other future, and that was with his father's old notes to work from. Now…hell, he would probably have to make the announcement of his parentage prematurely. Though, he still thought it was only a matter of time before Sandaime-Jiijii called him in for a chat, and he knew he couldn't—wouldn't—lie to Jiijii.

Even so, Naruto had spent most of yesterday tagging important places around town, like his own apartment, the Uchiha compound, Ichiraku's, his father's head on the Monument, and even the window outside Jiijii's office. He had even managed to place one inside the office, albeit above the drop ceiling. As long as he was focusing when he went, he should be able to appear in the office itself instead of inside the ceiling. Hopefully. There hadn't exactly been time to test that one. Then he'd had to scamper to arrive at the team meeting, only slightly less late than Kakashi, before heading home to find Gaara waiting for him.

"Anyway, where are we supposed to go?" he prompted as they reached the Academy. "Third floor, wasn't it? Wait, don't the front stairs only go to the second floor?"

Sakura nodded. "If we go to the staircase down the hall by Iruka-sensei's classroom, we can go straight up," she said hesitantly. Naruto led the way there instantly. Sasuke, who had been about to turn toward the front staircase, slouched after him instead without a word. Sakura followed, smiling faintly.

Kakashi-sensei was waiting by the door on the third floor. "Oh, good," he said, snapping his book shut. "I'm glad you all made it. Especially you, Sakura; I guess our team meeting did some good?"

They all thought back to the previous day, and shuddered. None of them acknowledged it. Kakashi's eye crinkled in a smile. "I was a little concerned that you might not all show. Genin _must_ enter the chunin exams in a team of three, after all, but it wouldn't be fair to pressure one's teammates into participating, especially during a rookie attempt."

"Are our other classmates here too, then, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto probed.

"You'll just have to see once you're inside," Kakashi eye-smiled again, twinkling at him. He vanished in a plume of smoke.

Naruto scowled. "If he's good enough at Shunshin to use it in a closed hallway like this, why does he drop a smoke bomb every time," he complained, waving at the cloud.

"Huh, I guess you really do have Sharingan no Kakashi for a teacher," said a new voice.

Team 7 looked around and saw three more people standing in front of the staircase. "Tenten-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, mostly for the others' benefit, but also to cover up the lurch in his stomach at seeing Lee and Neji again. He had to remind himself forcibly that Neji would be stuck back in his endless whining phase which he thought was brooding. Hopefully he could get through that without hospitalizing his cousin again.

"The exams are not yet due to start," exclaimed Lee, without introducing himself. "Before we must compete within, I would challenge you, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked at him incredulously, taking in his green jumpsuit, round eyes, and the prominent eyebrows that Naruto had acknowledged in his nickname, Bushy Brows. He had forgotten that Lee had challenged Sasuke, but hopefully they would be able to get inside without either boy showing off.

Sakura seemed to dither on the spot. "Oh, you shouldn't, you'll get in trouble…"

"Oi, oi," Naruto barked, as Lee started to get into his Gouken opening stance. "We're here to get promoted, aren't we? We're literally standing outside the exam room; you don't think we'll get marked down for an unauthorized fight?"

"Oh, come on," said Tenten, "I wouldn't mind a good scrap either." Her eyes slid to the hilt of the blade on Naruto's left thigh. "Maybe you can prove to me that you can actually use that stuff you bought from Otou-san."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Look, you know two-thirds of the exam is about combat anyway, right? Both field combat and tourney combat. We'll all get our chance to fight. You guys need to chill."

He smiled at Team Gai to make the dismissal less rude, but resolutely turned his back and pushed past his teammates to the door of the classroom. Sasuke and Sakura followed him, unsure what else they could do given that Naruto of all people had just backed down when directly challenged—for a good reason, it had to be admitted, but it was still unusual.

The room was about half-full. Naruto supposed that a bunch of people must be caught up in the genjutsu downstairs. Rather than take a seat, Naruto looked around, then moved toward the side wall where Team 8 and Team 10 were standing awkwardly. Naruto placed himself carefully, so that Sasuke and Sakura would pass him, leaving him as the only one with his back to a room full of 'hostiles'. This might have been intimidating had he actually been twelve. As it was, the pathetic amounts of killing intent being directed at them were downright laughable. Even Sakura and Sasuke seemed barely affected, compared to the other rookies, though that might have been because of meeting Zabuza in the land of Waves. Say what you wanted about Zabuza, the man had damn near weaponized his killing intent. It was a wonder they hadn't all stabbed themselves, faced with that as fresh genin.

"Hey guys," Naruto said, conversationally to the other teams. He bumped fists with Kiba and Chouji, and nodded to Shino and Shikamaru. Hinata stopped blushing at the hostile attention being focused on them, and started blushing at having met Naruto's gaze, poking her fingertips together. Her mouth, though, gave a tiny smile. Ino, who Naruto had not seen since his 'return', cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Hmmm…" she said, loudly; she was plainly trying to cover her own discomfort with the sort of false bravado Naruto himself had been known for at this age. "Forehead-girl is right, that jacket _does_ suit you, Naruto."

Naruto grinned, a little surprised, but pleased he didn't cut too bad a figure with a jacket that was technically too big for him. Seals could do a lot, but there was no mistaking that Naruto still had some growing to do, and fortunately the coat would now grow with him. Hopefully with a better diet from here on, Naruto would actually get a little taller than he had been in the other future.

Team Gai joined them against the wall, and Naruto started making introductions, offering no explanation for why he knew Lee and Neji. As he rounded them off, he heard an unwelcome voice. "You rookies should really keep it down. Everybody's on edge; you shouldn't draw attention to yourselves."

Naruto stiffened imperceptibly, and his hands curled into fists within the sleeves of his coat. "Can you hear someone talking?" he growled pointedly to Sasuke, trying not to grind his teeth. Kurama was snarling in the back of Naruto's mind, and Naruto had to work hard to keep the Kyuubi's chakra fully contained. His teammates both looked mildly surprised at his show of open dislike, when Naruto was usually gregarious to the point of irrationality. Shino, Shikamaru, Neji, and Hinata all seemed to pick up on this too, and the dozen of them drew slightly closer together. No one seemed willing to engage Kabuto in conversation, answering his prodding questions only with clipped replies, and eventually he seemed to give up and move away. Naruto—honestly surprised at how quickly and how _well_ the twelve of them had begun reading each other—was saved from having to explain himself by the arrival of the bearlike proctor, Morino Ibiki, head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation department.

"Shut up and find your seats," he roared unnecessarily. His intimidating presence in his leather overcoat had caused most of the room to fall silent. All of them scrambled to the seats they had been assigned—Naruto more calmly than most—and found that from where he was sitting, he could make eye contact easily with both his teammates on the other side of the curved lecture hall. He gave them both a thumbs-up, then returned his attention to Ibiki.

The lecture and test were exactly as he remembered them, and glancing down the list of questions, he saw that he could easily answer some of them himself without even having to cheat. He felt eyes on him, and looked up again to catch Sakura looking at him worriedly. He gave her a roguish grin and then immediately began scribbling an answer to the easiest question. He sensed, rather than saw, the relief in her posture from across the room. Hopefully he wouldn't have to worry about her potentially giving up to save him, as she had nearly done last time. Naruto's jaw had nearly hit the ground when he had learned that in the other future, hurled at him as an insult, but which he recognized for the gesture of worry and affection that it had been at the time.

Six questions later, Naruto had over half the exam time left and was extraordinarily bored. He supposed he could use the time to finish answering the questions, but he and Gaara had thought it might be more worthwhile to try to get some other teams eliminated. That would be easier to do during the second exam, but if he could knock some teams out now, there would be less work to do later.

He stretched in his seat, looking around very obviously so he couldn't be accused of cheating by the proctors, and caught Gaara's eye, off to his right. He jerked his eyes to the left and right, and Gaara smirked, though likely nobody else would have seen the miniscule movement of his face.

"Eyes forward or it's a mark for you, Twenty-three!"

Naruto blinked before realizing that meant him. Was that the same number he had been the first time? He didn't recall. Hadn't he been sitting beside Hinata last time? He shrugged, turning back to his seat. For Gaara, his sand would likely allow him to sabotage people easily. Naruto would have to be…much less subtle. He sighed silently. At least it was in character.

"Oi!" he shouted suddenly, hunching forward to cover his paper. "Keep your eyes on your own paper, dattebayo!" He glared at the bewildered chunin hopeful sitting next to him, light flashing off his Kusagakure headband.

"That's three strikes, Twenty-two!" Ibiki barked. "Fifty-six and Seventy-one, you can join your teammate outside!" The entire Hidden Grass team left, including—as according to Naruto's plan—the pale-faced girl who had been replaced by Orochimaru last time. He didn't know when that switch had taken place, and didn't really expect that to completely stop Orochimaru's plans if they were the same, but he felt some petty satisfaction nevertheless. Kurama snorted inside his head, but didn't comment.

Naruto didn't manage to get anyone else kicked out, though he did consider it a victory that he forced Ibiki to "demerit" one of the actual chunin confederates planted in the room, who the actual chunin candidates were supposed to cheat from. Gaara seemed to be faring much better, as far more teams were dismissed than last time even before the final question.

When time was up, and Ibiki began outlining the Impossible Task of the final question, Naruto carefully caught Sakura's eye again, and winked. She gave a weak sort of smile back, but nodded. Sasuke, behind her, gave a smirk which, though tiny, was infinitely more noticeable than Gaara's.

Finally, Ibiki dropped the bomb—that anyone who attempted the final question and failed would be forever barred from promotion. At this point in the other future, Naruto had leapt to his feet and started shouting that Ibiki had no right to make such a rule, and that even if he did so, that Naruto would be the first genin to become Hokage. In the end, the joke was on Ibiki, because Naruto's eventual battlefield promotion _had_ been straight to Kage. Still, Naruto had no desire to be shackled to his old rank again. Being promoted to chunin was about demonstrating tactical fitness and ability to lead, things for which Naruto knew full well that he was overqualified.

The room emptied steadily, but Naruto merely put his feet up on his desk and smiled insolently at Ibiki. Most of the retreating chunin hopefuls didn't seem to notice his ease, but it looked like Team Kurenai, Team Asuma, and Team Gai all did. By a flurry of glances between them which Naruto didn't think he was expected to notice. He smirked, his gaze still fixed on Ibiki's face. The T&I head seemed to be torn between amusement and exasperation that his attitude was keeping all the other rookies in their seats. Still, because the older candidates were still dropping like flies, Ibiki said nothing.

Finally, the last few quitters trickled out, and after a moment's stillness, Ibiki declared that the rest of them had passed. His mouth twitched as he glanced toward Naruto, but then became stony and serious. He gave his lecture about information being more valuable than lives, and conviction being essential for chunin, before he was interrupted—right on schedule—by a window shattering to reveal a poster proclaiming the arrival of the second proctor, in all her tan-miniskirted and -overcoated glory, Mitarashi Anko.

Naruto's stomach clenched at the sight of Anko. He had grown close to the purple-haired Tokubetsu Jonin in the other future, sensing a kindred spirit. His desire to remove her Cursed Seal of Heaven was half the reason he had worked so hard to become proficient with fuuinjutsu; at first it was so he could later remove the seal from Sasuke, but eventually it was for her own sake. Anko met his eye as Ibiki had, and he gave her his best foxy grin. She smirked back in her characteristic semi-insane manner, and cried for them to meet her in twenty minutes outside the Forest of Death!

* * *

><p>As with Ibiki's test, Anko's description of the second phase of the exams was pretty much as he remembered it. Only nine teams had passed: Team Kakashi, Team Kurenai, Team Asuma, Team Gai, Gaara's team, Kabuto's team, a team from Grass, a team from Sound, and a team from Rain.<p>

Naruto was just pondering what, besides the number of teams competing, seemed different from last time, when his instincts screamed and he realized a kunai was flying toward him. Just before it reached him, his hand shot out and caught it, and he instinctively flung it back in the direction it had come from. Then his mind caught up with his hands and he realized that Anko had flung the knife, and that she was now nursing a thin cut on her cheek where she had narrowly dodged his return throw.

She was biting her lip, looking equal parts impressed and infuriated, and Naruto quickly signed in Konoha handtalk _Sorry. Will buy you dango if you don't kill me._

Anko's eyebrows rose almost to her hairline, but she twisted one hand in a handtalk sign that indicated the sealing of a promise. Then she took her hand from her bloodied cheek, licked her fingertips, and spoke normally.

"Now that we're all paying attention," she said pointedly. "I have to ask you all to sign these release forms," she drew out a storage scroll, "stating that you indemnify Konoha in the event of your death from here on out."

Once they had all signed the consent forms, she handed each team one of two scrolls, marked Earth or Heaven, and explained that they would be considered passing if they arrived at the tower in the middle of the arena with their full team intact and at least one of each scroll. Thus, only a maximum of four teams could possibly proceed to the final round, and there would be one more scroll of one type than the other.

Since there were so few of them, Anko allowed them to pick their own entry gates as long as there were at least two empty gates between them and another team. Naruto immediately requested the Westernmost gate, which got a curt nod from Sasuke. Naruto caught Gaara's eye, and the other jinchuuriki quietly claimed the Easternmost gate. This was part of their plan as well: they would both close in on the tower as quickly as possible, and eliminate as many other teams as they could. Of course, they had made this plan not realizing just how efficiently the first exam would eliminate contenders.

Naruto felt a little guilty about it, but he knew all too well that none of his fellow rookies except _maybe_ Shikamaru deserved to be promoted yet, and eliminating them from the exams would simply mean less chance for them to get injured, especially if the Otogakure team managed to slip past him and Gaara. Even the jinchuuriki could only cover so much ground at once, and Orochimaru's Hidden Sound were not to be underestimated—sonic jutsu were difficult to defend against on the fly.

Anyway, he had chosen the side farther from where the rest of the Konoha squads besides Kabuto's were beginning, so if his allies got stopped it would likely be by Gaara, but he knew Gaara wouldn't hurt them. The goal, between them, was to disrupt Orochimaru's plans. The easiest way would have been to have either Gaara's team or Naruto's own knocked out of the tournament, but in so doing they would force Orochimaru to improvise, and they would lose the advantage of knowing what was coming. Hopefully, by entering from a different gate, rushing through the forest to the tower, and being near backup in the form of the Hidden Sand, they could avoid Sasuke being branded with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal. Naruto could always remove it, but it would tip his hand to Orochimaru too soon.

The starting whistle blew, the instructor opened their gate, and Naruto darted into the forest as fast as he thought his teammates could reasonably follow. Reaching out carefully with his chakra, he found that they had both secured the marked Mie kunai to their backs as a last resort, so there would be no getting separated in a pinch. He had also slipped one to Gaara as they left the first exam room, meaning that he had two left, including his father's prototype, but since he had told his teammates for expedience that he didn't have any more, it would be best if he could stick to his other weapons.

"Where are we going, Naruto?" Sakura puffed from behind him, and he forced himself to slow down a little more.

"Anko-ch—Anko-san said the goal is the tower in the middle, and based on how big this training ground is to run around, I figure the middle's gotta be about ten klicks from where we started. Since we know that's where everybody else is going, we can stake it out if we get there early enough, and just take every scroll from every team that tries to get by us; reduce the competition for later." Naruto could sense Sasuke's eyes on him, but couldn't see his expression. Since Sasuke didn't say anything, Naruto chose to take his silence for agreement with the plan, and went on. "What scroll do we have, anyway?"

"We've got an Earth scroll," Sakura replied. "So we'll need to find a team with a Heaven scroll."

Hadn't they had a Heaven scroll last time? Oh well, that sort of difference couldn't be significant.

"I agree with Naruto, we should wait to ambush another team near the tower," said Sasuke unexpectedly. "We can cover ten kilometers in an hour without getting tired or falling for any traps, if somebody manages to beat us there."

Naruto, too preoccupied with keeping away from Orochimaru to consider how odd it was that Sasuke was agreeing with him, simply nodded and fell silent.

* * *

><p>Gaara's team also reached the vicinity of the tower within an hour, and spread out to begin setting traps. No sooner was Gaara alone than he was jumped by the remaining Kusagakure squad that had been following them for the last twenty minutes. Within seconds, all three were pinned against nearby trees by his sand.<p>

"What scroll were you given?" Gaara asked the apparent leader. He spat at Gaara, but Shukaku's defense caught it. The sand restraints on all three tightened enough to make breathing difficult. "I will ask again," Gaara went on, calmly.

When again none of them answered, Gaara raised his right hand. "This is your first warning," he told them, a small stream of sand drifting toward each prisoner. With three small, sickening cracks, he broke each of their right forefingers.

All three cried out in pain, and one shouted, "Earth, we got an Earth scroll, it's in his bag!" She rolled her eyes at their third companion, who paled dramatically when Gaara turned to face him. Gaara merely directed his sand into the bag, retrieved the scroll, and then caused his sand to cocoon over the prisoners entirely. After a few moments, he couldn't feel any of them struggling any longer, and drew the sand back to simple restraints. A quick genjutsu on the unconscious—and thus unable to resist—Kusa-nin, and they would sleep right through the end of the challenge. Gaara used his sand to set their broken fingers, then hardened the sand into a sort of makeshift cast. He bound the three carefully, and laid them against a tree. He would bring them to the tower later. For now, they would sleep.

Gaara glanced at the Earth scroll in his hand. Irritating. His team had been furnished with an Earth scroll by the proctor, so their job was not yet done, and now there was one less chance to avoid eliminating a Konoha team. The so called "Konoha Ten" had been reliable allies in what Gaara thought of as the lost future, and he would avoid harming any of them if humanly possible.

Feeling Shukaku shift in the back of his head, Gaara added sternly, _Or demonically possible. They _will not_ be harmed._ The Ichibi made no reply, but Gaara could almost _feel_ him sulking at being denied bloodshed. _Should we find Orochimaru's pet medic, you will have blood to spare,_ Gaara promised the tanuki. Shukaku subsided, accepting that, and Gaara settled in to wait.

* * *

><p>Four days later, Team Kakashi had not seen hide nor hair of any other team, and Naruto's nerves were nearing the breaking point. The first few days had been bad enough, but by the third night, Naruto had insisted that they mount 2-person watches instead, with only one person resting at a time—even though Naruto was also standing watch with more kage bunshin than his teammates could possibly fathom.<p>

Even when it was his turn to sleep, Naruto found himself barely dozing. And the slightest footstep, from Sakura or Sasuke returning from their watch, woke him before they even drew close enough to touch him. Still, there had been no contact from any hostiles, and Naruto was beginning to worry that he would have to stage a fight with Gaara's team to make sure they actually passed.

He knew from a small message early on the fourth morning that Gaara had fought Kabuto's team, but that the rogue medic had escaped with his team. Gaara had also engaged and captured Team Kurenai, securing their scroll with no injuries.

"Where the hell _is_ everybo—" Naruto started to complain, then ducked as a shuriken came whistling by. As it thunked into a tree behind him, Naruto drew his kukri and settled into an armed Shioken stance. "About damn time!" he barked. "Let's go!"

Based on the attack being a single shuriken, and on the miniscule killing intent he could feel, Naruto was sure that whoever was attacking them, it wasn't Orochimaru. _Where the _hell_ was Orochimaru?_ Naruto felt Sasuke draw in front of Sakura, and he flung out an arm in a handtalk sign, telling Sasuke to stay put. Then Naruto flashed forward in a Shunshin, landing on a tree branch and finding himself immediately surrounded. The three genin participating from Otogakure—what had their names been?—all looked startled by his sudden appearance, and two of them dashed backward, leaving the leader to close with Naruto.

Which one had been the leader? Was it the one with the air jets in his arms? No, that one was behind him, Naruto realized as he had to backflip over the blast of air and sound. And he remembered that the kunoichi on the team had been a senbon-user, which meant the one he was closing with was the one with that weird gauntlet on his arm. That could be an issue—he remembered their leader being clever, and thus the biggest threat.

Sure enough, the Oto leader swung his arm in a strange arc to make air vibrate across the holes in his Resonating Echo Speaker gauntlet. The sound waves, magnified by his chakra, immediately upset Naruto's balance, but he was adhering to the branch with chakra. Rather than block the incoming blow, he wrapped his arm fully around Dosu's gauntlet, muffling the the vibrations and slamming the kukri in his other hand between the Oto-genin's ribs. He missed the heart, but as he withdrew the knife and leapt away, another blast of air and sound from Zaku behind him blasted Dosu off the branch in pieces, eliminating the greatest threat.

As Naruto landed back on the forest floor, two dozen senbon landed around him with a loud jingling noise. Bells…yes, the senbon-using Sound kunoichi had attached little bells to her needles to disguise the number of senbon flying, and to produce the sound waves for her genjutsu. Naruto caught up the hilt of his kukri with his teeth, growled, "Fuuton: Daikakoukiryuu!" and clenched his hands in the snake seal. A great downdraft centered on him seemed to blast outward, flinging away not only the senbon still flying at him, but all the ones in the ground as well.

Releasing the kukri from his mouth, he caught it in a reverse grip as he dashed forward again, slashing out at the kunoichi—Kin's—throat, before he could be caught up in any genjutsu. As she fell to the ground, he pulsed his chakra to be sure that her death had not been an illusion, but the moment cost him and Zaku succeeded in blowing him off his feet. Thankfully there were no trees in his way, so he simply rolled back to his feet and flung a kunai back at Zaku, who simply blew it out of the way with his air cannons. The Oto-genin's face was twisted with rage, but Naruto remained calm. As Zaku raised both his arms again, Naruto used another Shunshin to dash, not directly at him, but slightly to the side. He jumped, turned over, and kicked off a tree to land at the Oto-nin's side. With a swift elbow bash, be broke Zaku's left arm, and as Zaku brought his right arm around to blast Naruto away, the blond pressed two fingers into a pressure point in Zaku's elbow, forcing his good arm to fold. Zaku's Air Cutter discharged, but his palm was now pointed at his own face.

Naruto turned away quickly, using a Fuuton jutsu he had invented to expel wind from his pores, causing his clothes to billow around him and the blood coating him to blow away. Once it settled, he created some clones to search the bodies for their team's scroll, and headed back to their clearing.

Where _was_ Orochimaru? The Sound team last time had said that their mission was to kill Sasuke, but Orochimaru's actual plan had been for them to test Sasuke's abilities with the Cursed Seal. But Orochimaru hadn't shown up this time. Naruto wasn't much of a chakra sensor, but he knew his teammates' chakra and he knew Orochimaru's. Sasuke and Sakura hadn't used any chakra during his brief scuffle with the Oto team, and while Orochimaru could conceal himself, he wouldn't have been able to prevent Naruto from noticing his allies' worry. It was nearing noon, there were barely twelve hours left in the test, and while they did—finally—have the Heaven scroll they needed to pass, he _still_ didn't know where the _hell_ Orochimaru was.

Screw it; they needed to get inside. He created another clone to tell Gaara that it was time to come inside, and sent out a few more as runners, getting them to gather up all the disguised kage bunshin lying around and search the forest for the other Konoha teams, and either guide them or carry them to the tower at the end of the testing period.

As he arrived back in the clearing, he tossed the Sound team's Heaven scroll to Sakura and pulled a cleaning cloth from his backpack. Quickly scrubbing the blood off his kukri, he returned it to its sheath, packed up all his things, and was ready to go immediately. Seeing his example, his teammates began packing as well. He could tell they had questions—Sasuke, especially, had hardly twitched his narrowed eyes from Naruto's back since he had returned—but they were also eager to get inside the tower.

"Let's rock," said Naruto, as the other two finally caught up their gear.

"N-Naruto…" Sakura asked, looking at the blood spattered on the ground where he had cleaned his kukri. "Did you…?"

"Did you kill someone, dobe?" Sasuke finished when Sakura trailed off.

Naruto paused as a wave of memories rushed over him. One of Naruto's clones back where he had fought the Sound team popped, having used up its chakra to burn the corpses. The rest of the clones had stolen all the Sound-nin's useful gear and were burying it for later retrieval. Another clone popped as it marked the tree near where the tools were buried with the Hiraishin formula. Finally, the clone he had sent to Gaara dispersed itself as well, indicating the Sand's agreement that it was time to finish.

"Yes," Naruto answered Sasuke. "They were going to kill us. Did you think they gave me their scroll because I asked nicely?"

Sakura looked pale, but Sasuke seemed almost…approving. Naruto jerked his head toward their destination and said, "Let's get to the tower now we've got a Heaven scroll. I really wasn't expecting to stay out here this long." This wasn't quite true—even if they had obtained the Heaven scroll immediately, he would have still argued for staying to try to eliminate other teams—but it didn't matter now. A moment later, the doors of the tower closed behind them, and they had passed the second exam.

* * *

><p>Thousands of kilometers to the Northeast in the land of Hot Water, only a short distance outside the gates of the famous hidden-village-turned-tourist-trap Yugakure, there lay a desolate wasteland, dotted with geysers and boiling mud pits. In a small cave concealed by a stand of petrified trees, Utakata of Kirigakure stared out through the billowing vapor as though not really seeing it at all. His fingers tapped restlessly against his bubble pipe, and sweat beaded on his bare chest due to his loose, open kimono.<p>

Suddenly, he jerked his head up, his pipe rising toward his lips, as he heard what sounded like pounding footsteps and and odd, wettish whistling. Before Utakata could make any other move, though, an enormous red shape coalesced out of the fog. With a piercing whistle, the figure dug in his gigantic heels and skidded lurchingly to a stop, a few dozen meters past where Utakata stood.

"Sorry, you were closer than I thought and it's hard to stop once I get going," the huge shape said.

Utakata blinked, and resolved the reddish blob into the shape of a tall, broad man wearing odd crimson armour. There was a pipe coming from his back which was emitting steam at regular intervals. He might have been an automaton if not for the very human eyes blinking out from under his low hat.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously. "How did you find me?"

"I do a lot of thinking, and I finally realized that this would be a good place to hide," the giant rumbled. "So I came here to look for you. If you weren't here, I might pick up a trail, and if not, I could still enjoy some lovely steam." He exhaled, and steam seemed to curl up from under his hat. "But when I was near enough, I sensed the…extra presence, Roku-san."

Six. The man had called him six. He knew, somehow. Utakata peered at the man, narrowing his golden eyes. Under the red straw hat was an Iwagakure hitai-ite. The steam the man was emitting appeared to be chakra-based, similar to Terumi Mei's steam-based Futton kekkei genkai, but as far as Utakata knew, that bloodline had never left Water country, much less spread as far as Earth long enough ago for this huge man to grow. That left only one other option—and the more likely one, since the man had referred to him by the number of tails on his bijuu.

"Does that make you Go-san, then?" Utakata shot back.

The giant bowed his head in affirmation. "I am Han, and I bear Kokuo of the Five Tails."

Utakata followed his lead, mind whirling. "I am Utakata, and I bear Saiken of the Six Tails."

Han drew a few steps closer, his armour creaking. "Then, perhaps, we can work to each other's benefit," he said. "I was alone the…last time I was found, and suffered for it."

Utakata knew the Gobi had been captured before him, in the hazy memories he had been unable to shake off. But if this man was referring to those memories…perhaps they were real?

"The enemy travels in pairs, do they not?" he asked, as confirmation. Han nodded. "Then I agree, we can be of great help to each other." He extended a hand, which the large man took ponderously, and shook.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Couple of things to note. First off, damn this was a long chapter. Second, if you're wondering what the hell Hiashi's deal is…so am I, because that was NOT planned, and it tacked on an extra 2000+ words.

These characters are running away with my story… I swear, I get no respect at all.

Uhhh…I think this level of violence can still be called "canon-typical" and I don't think I've gone overboard, but if you think I've been too graphic let me know so I can add a warning. Feel free to let me know also if you think Naruto is "too strong", but bear in mind that the enemies he's fighting are genin, while he is (in discipline and chakra level at least) a kage. How do you think canon!Naruto would have done at this age if he had to fight the Third? Or his father? He would have been slaughtered.

Lastly, a correspondent pointed out that it is possible that the term "Peggy Sue" is not as universally-understood as I had thought, so I'm willing to use the label "Time Travel". For those unfamiliar however, a snippet from TVTropes: "A Peggy Sue [story] gives a character[s], usually at the end of a story or series, the chance to go back and relive her/his life with the knowledge he gained from living through his story the first time." It has nothing to do with a Mary Sue, which in _Naruto_ usually means a cartoonishly-overpowered OC (or a non-OC simply written OOC).

Are the jinchuuriki in this story going to be strong? Yes. But they're jinchuuriki; they're already canonically strong. Naruto isn't going to be going head-to-head with the likes of Akatsuki right now because he's barely thirteen—but he does have near-free access to Kyuubi's chakra and eight known allies who are as strong or stronger than him, simply by virtue of being the same as him but mostly older. And having people that you know you can count on and who count on you makes a **huge** difference to someone like Naruto, who is already (from his time in the lost timeline) less empty bravado and more actual confidence than he was the first time around.

_Tl;dr_: Trust me to craft my story, ne?


	4. Trust, Honesty, Honor

The first room within the tower was bare except for a scroll on the wall. Sakura began to read the riddle aloud, but Naruto barely paid attention as he unsealed the Earth and Heaven scrolls and tossed them on the floor. The seals inscribed on them glowed—shoddy work, Naruto thought idly; the lines were weak and the curves unsteady—before a plume of smoke erupted. Sasuke and Sakura both stepped back, on guard, as a silhouette became visible through the hanging vapor. As the smoke cleared, Naruto dragged a hand down his face in exasperation.

Before them stood a rather poorly-made scarecrow, with straw sticking out of its vest and some sort of fluffy white brush on its head under a jauntily-tilted headband that covered one painted eye. The sketched face was a henohenomoheji—Kakashi's chop, if the brush approximating his characteristically gravity-defying hair wasn't obvious enough.

The scarecrow had a note pinned to its chest, which Naruto read to his stunned teammates. "Sorry for not coming to meet you, but there's a cat in a tree that I need to save. Head through the door in front of you to the third room on the right to get some rest. The first door on the left is a cafeteria; get something to eat and ask for medical attention if you need it. I'm proud of you for getting this far." It was signed with the henohenomoheji. There was also a chibi Kakashi giving a V-for-Victory sign drawn in the corner. Naruto sighed, passed the note to Sakura, and pushed his way through the door.

"You guys hungry?" he asked, moving to the door on the left.

"Wouldn't you like to get cleaned up first, Naruto?" Sakura mumbled, and Naruto paused with his hand on the doorknob. He glanced down at his blood-splattered clothes. On the one hand, this might make for a good intimidation factor. On the other…

"Yeah, you're right," he laughed. "I don't wanna eat with this all over me!" Naruto crossed to the third door on the right as Kakashi had instructed and found another note tacked to the door with their names on it. Inside was what looked like a small hotel suite, with three beds and an attached shower. "I'll go first then, shall I?" he added, still chortling, as he moved toward the bathroom. Just as he made to pull his shirt over his head, Sasuke suddenly tackled him, pinning the blond against the floor, using his legs to keep Naruto's hands away from any weapons, and holding a kunai of his own to Naruto's throat.

"You know, as good-looking as you supposedly are, Sasuke, I don't swing that way," Naruto snarked, not remotely threatened. "Didn't know you did, though. Sakura and Ino will be heartbroken." On reflection, it was really quite fortunate for Sasuke that he had pulled this stunt while Naruto was fully awake. A drowsy or groggy Naruto probably would have killed him rather than quipped at him.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke snarled. "Naruto isn't skilled enough to kill three people without a scratch or clever enough to understand the riddle back there so quickly."

Naruto snorted. He should have expected this, though. He hadn't been acting the way he had at this age since the moment he had come back—he found it difficult to remember exactly how he had behaved, in truth, so he hadn't bothered. Sasuke had always been observant, quick to draw and stick to conclusions. Even when, as was currently demonstrating, his conclusions were easily demonstrably wrong.

"Brilliant theory," Naruto said sarcastically. "Well, except for the holes in it. When exactly am I supposed to have switched places with someone else, moron? And with who? And why?" Sasuke hesitated as Naruto kept poking holes in his theory, but then tightened his grip on the kunai against Naruto's neck as his eyes spun into sharingan.

"Naruto has been acting weird for weeks…" Sakura said, though she still looked nervous.

Naruto sighed. "Look, I really want to take a shower, so why don't you tell me what I can say that will make you believe me? You want me to make some Kage Bunshin? Or reminisce about tree-climbing in the land of Waves? Or when I beat you up on graduation day?"

Sasuke growled, but the pressure on Naruto's throat disappeared. Sasuke, plainly, had never told anybody about that short tussle, so only Naruto could know about it. A spy could have known that they learned to climb trees in Wave, but the transformation of their rivalry into a friendly one was an interaction that couldn't have been faked. Nobody their age could use Kage Bunshin except Naruto, and no Henge would stand up to the sharingan, nor could it replicate the characteristic color or intensity of Naruto's particular chakra.

The last straw was when Naruto looked him right in the eye and asked, "Why exactly are you upset that I'm finally improving?"

Sasuke grunted, but got up. "Still a thin hammer…"

Naruto grinned, pushing himself upright, but then froze as a clone popped somewhere and he got a rush of memories. Then another. His smile became a grimace, and he dashed back past his teammates and across into the cafeteria.

"Medic!" he barked in what would eventually be his Kage voice. "Two injured squads incoming!"

Team Kurenai, eating glumly, and the two chunin chaperones in the cafeteria all jumped to attention, startled. When he saw it was only Naruto, the nearer chunin looked prepared to start shouting back, but hesitated at the sound of tramping footsteps. A moment later, a dozen more Narutos hurried down the hallway, carrying between them the unconscious members of Team Gai and Team Asuma as gingerly as they could. Both chunin sputtered, and Naruto turned on his heel, storming away.

"MEDIC!" Naruto roared down the empty hallway, and the last door visible on the right before the curve of the tower hid the rest of the hallway from view creaked open.

"Medical staff is h—" the woman began to say, but had to jump back as the clones rushed past her. She sounded familiar, but Naruto was paying her no attention.

They laid their comrades gently upon the available beds, and dispersed. Naruto closed his eyes to sort through what they had learned, and began to speak rapidly without opening them, even as he backpedaled into the hallways so that the medics could work. "All six of them display signs of severe chakra exhaustion; Nara Shikamaru appears to have a concussion, Rock Lee's muscles are torn due to use of at least the first three gates, Hyuuga Neji has had the ligaments behind both knees severed, and both females show contusions to the torso consistent with cracked ribs."

Pleasingly, none of the medical staff wasted time asking questions, instead leaping straight to work. The vaguely familiar one who had opened the door thanked him, and Naruto finally opened his eyes as the door closed sharply. Slouching back to the room they had been assigned, Naruto hung his coat beside the door and shucked off his shirt and mesh vest, leaving them lying on the floor. He began unfastening his pants as he moved into the bathroom, but hearing Sakura squeak, he kicked the door closed before getting fully undressed and stepping into the shower.

* * *

><p>Emerging ten minutes later with his pants cleaned and firmly back on over a fresh sarashi wrap, Naruto paused in toweling his hair dry when he saw Kakashi in the room.<p>

"Good of you to join us, Sensei," he said, drily but fondly.

"Actually, Naruto, Hokage-sama was hoping you would join him before lunch," Kakashi said, snapping his book shut with an eye-smile.

Naruto shrugged. "Sure, lemme get a new shirt." He caught the mesh armour vest he had dropped earlier on his foot, kicked it up high enough to catch it, and drew it over his head. This done, he pulled a scroll out of his jacket and unsealed another plain black shirt emblazoned with the Uzumaki spiral. Then he placed a hand inside the shoulder of the coat and channeled chakra into the self-cleaning seal there. The blood spray on the coat faded and vanished back into the usual orange color, and Naruto pulled the coat on happily. After a quick smooth-down that doubled as a weapon-check, Naruto tied on his hitai-ite. "Ready, Sensei!" he announced.

"You two get cleaned up and find some food," Kakashi ordered the other two, who nodded. He took the lead ahead of Naruto down the hallway past the medic's room, but curiously did not pull his book back out. Naruto took a moment to confirm by chakra signature that this was indeed Kakashi.

As the continued down the hallway around the tower, Naruto mused that it was probably time to tell Jiijii what was going on. The main reason he and Gaara had decided to hold off was so that the course of events wouldn't change, but given Orochimaru's failure to appear, it seemed that they had changed anyway. He had informed the Hokage of Orochimaru's appearance after the second test anyway, so there really wasn't a better time. He began bracing himself.

"Hokage-sama is waiting," Kakashi said abruptly, gesturing Naruto to a particular door and indicating that he should enter first.

Naruto shrugged and pushed the door open. "I'm here, Jiijii!" He heard Kakashi shut the door behind him as he froze, taking in the sight in front of him. The Sandaime Hokage sat before him, his wrinkled hands clasped on top of his walking staff. On his right sat a buxom blonde with honey-colored eyes and a perpetual scowl on her ageless face, to his left was a large, square-jawed man with long white hair and smile lines around his eyes—the two loyal Sannin, Tsunade and Jiraiya.

* * *

><p>Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes instantly, apparently at the sight of all of them, and he blinked them back as fast as he could. Hiruzen felt rather than saw Jiraiya and Tsunade glance at each other, their stern expressions fading into startlement. That was anything but the reaction they had expected. Surprise, sure. Awe, perhaps. A trace of fear, or more than a trace if "Naruto" turned out to be an imposter or enemy. But tears?<p>

Naruto let out a gasping sob, and in the silence they could hear his whispers clearly. "Jiijii…Baa-chan…Ero-Kyoufu…"

Hiruzen's eyes widened. Naruto was not supposed to know that Jiraiya was his godfather. Much less should he be familiar enough with Tsunade to call her "grandmother"; by rights, he shouldn't even recognize her real age.

"Naruto?" he asked, quietly, but this only seemed to make the tears come faster. "Naruto!" he repeated sharply, hoping the boy would pay attention and calm down.

His expectations were dashed when Naruto suddenly stiffened, then took a respectful knee. His back remained straight, but his chin dropped humbly, far enough that his hair hid his streaming eyes, he brought his other fist to his heart in salute, overall adopting a posture that would put most ANBU to shame. "Hokage-sama, command me," he whispered, plainly doing his level best to keep his voice steady.

"Tell me about this, Naruto," Hiruzen said kindly, but firmly. Naruto was forced to raise his eyes to see what he was holding: a leather cord, from which hung the cracked and broken remains of a crystalline gem.

Naruto gasped, "What is that doing here?" before his eyes darted to Tsunade. On an identical cord around her neck hung a blue-green crystal, whole and intact. "What the—"

"Do you know what this is, brat?" Tsunade asked harshly, her fingers moving to the necklace compulsively.

Naruto stiffened and dropped his eyes to the floor again. When he spoke, it was in a voice so flat that it wouldn't have been out of place from one of Danzo's men. "It is a necklace formerly owned by your grandfather the Shodai, Tsunade-sama."

After a slight pause, she snapped, "Are you going to tell us how you got one so like it?" Naruto flinched, eyes closed, and bit his lip. When he spoke, he seemed to be picking his words with extreme care:

"_'When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew.'_"

"What the hell is that supposed to—" Tsunade snarled, but Jiraiya cut her off.

"That's Sensei's poem, hime," he said, his eyes boring into Naruto's…or they would have been if the blond's were looking at him. "Which to my knowledge, he has never shared with anyone except us."

Naruto took a shuddering breath. He cocked his head to face Jiraiya's voice, though his eyes were still shut tight, and said in a brittle voice, "Six Paths leads Red Dawn to seek Ten-Tails." Jiraiya's eyes grew so round they looked ready to pop out of his skull.

Naruto's eyes finally opened, but his gaze was fixed back on the floor at Hiruzen's feet. He reached down very slowly to draw his kukri, which he laid on the ground before him; a traditional show of fealty. Then, just as slowly, he drew stabbing blade strapped to his thigh. This he turned toward himself, holding it steady before his own heart. "Upon my honor, my life is yours, Hokage-sama," he whispered. "Upon this oath, know that I am yours to command."

Hiruzen stared at the boy kneeling before him, offering his loyalty in the most traditional ritual possible. After a long moment, he answered. "Your oath is accepted. Sheathe your blade. Your kage charges you to speak and answer truthfully. Who are you?" he asked.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konoha, identification number zero-one-two-six-zero-seven," Naruto rattled off. "Konoha's jinchuuriki and partner of the kyuubi no kitsune.

"What is it you wish to tell me?" Hiruzen pressed.

Naruto took a deep breath, and said, "I am from the future."

* * *

><p>Whatever they had expected, it wasn't that.<p>

Naruto, still reeling from seeing before him all at once the three people whom he had lost, and most wished to see again, still could not bring himself to really look at any of them. Kakashi had been one thing, and he had been psyching himself up to face Jiijii, but not all of them, all at once.

"Seal this room, Jiraiya," Sarutobi barked. Naruto did not move from his kneeling position as his godfather brushed past him. He did not look up at the sounds of a privacy seal being drawn, nor the flash as it activated.

"Stand up and raise your shirt, boy," Jiraiya barked. "Show me your seal." Naruto winced, but did as he was told. "_What the hell is this?_" Jiraiya growled. His large hand fastened around Naruto's neck and hoisted him up so that his feet were dangling.

Hiruzen barked, "Jiraiya!", but the sage paid no mind. He ignored the tears dropping onto his wrist and snarled, "What happened to this seal?"

Naruto made no effort to resist or free himself, and still couldn't look at his godfather. He raised his right hand slowly and made a handtalk sign, which variously meant _Trust_, _Honesty_, or _Honor_.

"Jiraiya, what are you—" Tsunade said.

"Half the elements of Minato's seal are gone," Jiraiya spat. "The thing's so loose, all it's doing is keeping the Kyuubi in his body; it's not sequestered from his mind, not protecting him from its influence, not even really filtering its chakra. It's almost as bad as the one on the Ichibi jinchuuriki." The tips of the fingers of Jiraiya's free hands began to glow. Kurama snarled in the back of Naruto's mind.

_I'll release it,_ Naruto told the fox quellingly. _You know I will. Believe it._

Jiraiya slammed his glowing hand into Naruto's stomach and twisted. The seal burned suddenly and tightened, returning it to how it had been when Naruto had actually been twelve. Some tiny part of him had to chuckle at the irony that despite everything else that had gone differently, his seal had still been messed with during the chunin exams.

Jiraiya dropped Naruto, dusting his hands. "That should hold long enough for us to figure out how the hell…" He trailed off as Naruto's own fingers began to glow. Naruto twisted the seal the other direction, making the spiral of the seal appear to rotate and the flowing characters around it vanish once more. "You little _fool_!" Jiraiya hissed, seizing Naruto by the throat once more and again ignoring Hiruzen's protest. "You could have completely released the Kyuubi! Who taught you to do that?"

Naruto shakily raised a hand again, and without looking at him, gently poked Jiraiya's chest.

"Me?" he sounded bewildered. Naruto nodded as best he could.

"Jiraiya, put him down immediately!" Hiruzen thundered. Jiraiya lowered Naruto to the ground gently this time, and Naruto immediately knelt once more. "None of that, Naruto," the Hokage snapped, and Naruto finally met his eye. "This sort of humility ill suits you now, I cannot imagine it from you in the future."

Naruto blinked. "You…believe me?" he rasped.

"That remains contingent upon the rest of our conversation, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said gently. Naruto registered the renewed use of a suffix. "When did you learn that poem?"

Naruto swallowed hard. "I…heard it at your funeral, Jiijii." Tsunade's and Jiraiya's hands curled into fists, and Naruto heard Kakashi shift behind him, but Sarutobi merely sighed.

"It is indeed in my recorded wishes to have that recited at the memorial service when I pass," he said, and both of his students froze. "What is the meaning of the message you gave to Jiraiya?"

"The de facto leader of Akatsuki is a man calling himself Pain," Naruto began, unconsciously straightening and folding his hands behind his back, the proper posture for debriefing. "He is the leader of Amegakure, having led a civil war and killed Sanshouo no Hanzou some fifteen years ago." His eyes almost looked at Jiraiya before he continued. "His real identity is Nagato, and I have strong reason to believe that he may be an Uzumaki." Jiraiya gasped, and even Tsunade looked stunned, but Naruto continued as if he had heard neither. "One of the powers of the rinnegan is to control the bodies of up to six specially-prepared corpses, which then share vision and power. The goal of Akatsuki is to capture the jinchuuriki and extract the bijuu, sealing them one by one into a giant statue. Pain believes that the statue is a weapon, and that by possessing it, Akatsuki can end war by virtue of being an unstoppable threat. In truth, the statue is an empty husk that was once the body of the Juubi, before the first Sage of the Six Paths divided its chakra into the nine bijuu we know today." Naruto rested a hand on his stomach as he finished speaking.

There was silence for several long minutes. Finally, Hiruzen asked, "How did you come to be here?"

"By the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, I was the only remaining jinchuuriki. Through a series of frankly absurd coincidences, I found myself with all nine bijuu contained within me. The enemy I faced attempted to capture me using a spacetime ninjutsu." Naruto bit his lip again. "As it was explained to me, that technique was _supposed_ to place its target in a pocket dimension that only the user could access. Instead…" he scratched the back of his head in a characteristic gesture. "I was flung into the past."

"How far?"

"Five years or so. I'm not sure exactly; the calendar didn't seem so important toward the end." Naruto shrugged.

"It was that bad?" Kakashi asked, speaking for the first time.

"It was war," Naruto replied quietly.

"What proof can you offer?" Tsunade asked.

"Besides knowing things I shouldn't?" Naruto shot back. He raised his left hand, and with a soft hum, created a rasengan. The spiraling ball of chakra held everyone's eye for a moment. "I can do better, but not without Sage Mode. I can't summon toads for you, because I haven't signed the contract yet, so nothing will happen. Oh, there's this." He held out one of his Mie kunai, subtly imprinting it his Hiraishin tag with a squeeze. Still using exaggerated movements, he lobbed it at an empty chair. In a flash of orange light, he vanished and reappeared seated in the chair with the kunai spinning by its ring around his finger.

"That was—" Kakashi staggered over to a chair beside Tsunade and sat down heavily.

"Yeah." Naruto pocketed the Mie kunai. "Took forever to get it right. You wouldn't believe how complicated it is to change the color of the flash." He grinned, and the Hokage threw back his head and laughed.

"So how did you get my necklace?" Tsunade cut in. "I assume that it was mine?"

"You gave it to me," he confirmed. "After Jiijii… Ero-sennin brought me to look for you, Godaime-sama." Tsunade sputtered. Naruto allowed himself to smirk a little. "Don't get used to that formality from me, though, Baa-chan."

As Tsunade composed herself, Naruto picked up and sheathed his kukri, laying the marked Mie kunai in front of the Hokage instead. "I'm having more made, but I want you to keep this, Jiijii. I don't want to tag Enma-san."

He resumed his debriefing stance. "I said nothing before now so that the potential for changing the course of history would be minimal, and I was hoping to eliminate some of the larger thorns in our side before they could ruin everything again." He sighed. "But things are already different, and I don't know why."

"What do you mean, Naruto?" Hiruzen prodded gently.

"Last time, during the second phase of the chunin exams, in the Forest of Death, our squad was attacked by a giant snake, and a Kusagakure jonin who turned out to be Orochimaru in disguise. He placed a Five Elements seal on my stomach and a Cursed Seal of Heaven on Uchiha Sasuke's neck. None of these events happened this time."

"Orochimaru attacked?" Hiruzen asked, alarmed.

Naruto nodded, looking bitter. "It was a precursor to a planned invasion. Orochimaru is the secret leader of Otogakure, and he conspired with the Yondaime Kazekage to attack Konoha during the third phase, using a combination of mass genjutsu, summoning, and a rampaging Ichibi." Naruto raised a hand at the adults' looks of alarm. "If nothing else, the latter is a moot point—Gaara, the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi, Shukaku of the One Tail, also has his memories of the lost future." Naruto smiled. "Orochimaru apparently did not trust the Kazekage to hold up his end of the bargain, and as such killed him and replaced him shortly before the third phase. It was in this guise that he attacked you, Jiijii. Gaara later became Suna's Godaime. He is a powerful ally."

Then Naruto sighed, and added, "Gaara and I agreed that we should allow that assassination, but we weren't sure exactly when it happened. Now, I'm not sure if it even will. Orochimaru hoped to destroy Konoha with his invasion, but that was only ever a secondary goal. His ulterior motive revolved around Sasuke and the Cursed Seal, so that he could lure him away from the village with promises of power and eventually take over his body. Since he didn't mark Sasuke, I have no idea what Orochimaru may be up to."

"The Cursed Seal of Heaven?" Jiraiya repeated.

"Yeah." Naruto scowled, still not looking at Jiraiya. "I hate that thing. It's damn hard to remove." Jiraiya's jaw dropped.

"You can remove Orochimaru's Cursed Seal?" Sarutobi clarified.

Naruto's smirk was back. "I can remove any seal," he said confidently. "I _am_ my parents' kid.

"You know about your parents, then, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen said, looking amazed.

"Old Man, look at this jacket. Do you really think I don't know?" Naruto gave a foxy grin. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato." He brushed a finger over the whisker marks on his cheeks. "I am the jinchuuriki of Kurama of the Nine Tails, as my mother was before me, and her kinsman Uzumaki Mito before her. She named Senju Tsunade my kyoubo, as my father named Jiraiya my kyoufu; as they both wished for Kakashi to be my big brother." He stuck out his tongue at the silver-haired jonin. "See how well that turned out."

Kakashi looked pained at that, but Naruto said softly, "I don't begrudge you your pain, nii-san."

After a moment, the Hokage cleared his throat. "Is there anything else we should know, Naruto-kun?"

"There is so much more you need to know…" Naruto sighed. "For the moment, the priority is the chunin exams and the invasion. The way it worked before was, during the third round of the exams, Sasuke injured Gaara, which caused him to go berserk. Someone disguised as an ANBU, likely Orochimaru's spy, used a wide-area genjutsu to put most of the audience to sleep, and the Sound nin hidden among them attacked. Orochimaru cast off his Kazekage disguise and had his bodyguards use the Four Violet Flames Formation around the rooftop to isolate you for a battle, Jiijii. He sacrificed some Sound genin to bring back the Shodaime and Nidaime with Edo Tensei." Naruto's mouth twisted. "I really hate that jutsu," he added.

"Do you know who was Orochimaru's spy?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yakushi Kabuto," Naruto replied without hesitation. "He was originally one of Danzo's Root, programmed as a deep cover spy within Akatsuki. He was supposed to keep an eye on them while pretending to pass information to Akasuna no Sasori, who is Akatsuki's spymaster. At some point, he legitimately defected to Orochimaru, though he was always willing to work with the true leader of Akatsuki… That's not important now, though. What matters is that Kabuto is an enemy, and his squadmates are also Orochimaru's flunkies. If I remember correctly, one of them absorbs chakra, and the other can stretch his body like he's got no bones. Kabuto fights with chakra scalpels and uses medical ninjutsu to heal any damage he takes. He's by far the most dangerous."

Naruto thought for a moment. "The only other thing that might be of interest is Gaara's suspicion that, well, if Ichi and Kyuu are back, maybe Ni through Hachi are, too. They would all be guaranteed allies, at least to Gaara and I, and they are all older, so they may be making moves of their own or informing their own kage." Then he shrugged. "Once the break in the chunin exams officially starts, Gaara and I were going to try to make contact."

"I see," the Hokage said after a moment. "Does this conclude your official report, shinobi?"

Naruto brought a fist to his heart to salute, much more relaxed now.

"Then I have another question, Naruto-kun. What rank did you hold in…the future?"

Naruto gave a crooked smile. "Rokudaime Hokage and Grand Commander of the Allied Shinobi forces."

"I see…" Hiruzen actually chuckled. "Well then, Naruto-kun, while I am not quite ready to hand you the hat just yet, I should think that you are prepared to shoulder some more responsibility than your present rank allows, if you are willing to agree to an assessment."

"As my Hokage commands," Naruto said neutrally, though the broad grin on his face told its own story.

"Not to full jonin, I'm afraid," Hiruzen warned his protégé. "I think TokuJo is the best we will be able to do for some time. I will arrange a private evaluation, though I must ask you to remain in both the chunin exams and your current team, under Kakashi-kun's direction for some time."

"As my Hokage commands," Naruto repeated. "What sort of evaluation?"

"The sort that ensures you are able to defend the rank in question."

Naruto's smile widened. "Permission to fight my taichou, Hokage-sama?"

Kakashi seemed to have recovered somewhat. "You sure about that, otouto?" he teased.

"Maa, I'm not sure I could take a Sannin while I'm twelve, unless I use Sage Mode, and I'd feel guilty beating up on a geezer," Naruto teased back.

Sarutobi cleared his throat again, pointedly. "I think that will be all for today, Naruto-kun. Though, if you would remain just a moment?" He didn't wait for Naruto's response. "Tsunade, please accompany me; we need to greet the other chunin candidates and examine the potential tournament bracket."

"Oh, Baa-chan," Naruto interrupted. "There were some friends of mine injured during the exam; looks like Kabuto's work to me."

"I'll drop in," Tsunade promised as she followed Hiruzen out of the room. The door shut behind them and the privacy seal flared as it reactivated. Belatedly, Naruto realized Kakashi had also left, which meant Naruto was now alone with…

* * *

><p>Jiraiya watched his godson's back as the realization hit him.<p>

After a long, stiff silence, Jiraiya said bitterly, "I must have hurt you pretty badly in the future for you not to be able to stand the sight of me."

Naruto whirled on the spot and finally met his gaze, his sparkling blue eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Hurt me? You _left_ me to go deep into hostile territory with no backup, for no gain we couldn't have guessed at! If I had been there, I could have gotten you back _out_…" His strangled voice trailed off, too choked with emotion to continue. He turned away again.

Jiraiya said nothing. He got to his feet, pulled his godson around, and crushed the boy to his chest. Naruto sniffled, gasped, and then broke down completely. He sobbed and sobbed, and every one tore at Jiraiya's heart. Even accounting for a five year reversal of time, impossible as it sounded, Naruto couldn't have been more than eighteen. Too young. Too young for everything that had happened to him, without being flung back and having to face the people he had lost. If Jiraiya found himself suddenly face to face with Minato…

Naruto's sobs were slowly resolving into words. "I k-know…you're not h-him…but he was you…and…and…"

There was no reply Jiraiya could make to that, so he just rubbed the small of Naruto's back through the sleeveless haori until the boy finally sniffled himself silent. Then he said, "Seems like there's not much left for me to teach you, Naruto."

Pulling away at last and scrubbing at his eyes, Naruto scoffed. "You've forgotten more than I ever knew about being a ninja, you old toad."

"And don't you forget it, brat," Jiraiya laughed. "Now clean yourself up, it's time for Sensei to tell you why we have chunin exams or whatever the lecture's about these days."

"That's what I remember," Naruto gave a watery chuckle.

When they emerged, they found a red-haired boy with a Suna headband passing by. The Sand jinchuuriki glanced between them, and Naruto gave him a tiny nod. The redhead fell into step beside the blond, and Naruto said, "'Raiya, this is Gaara."

_'Raiya?_ the sage pondered. He supposed he could allow it.

Gaara inclined his head respectfully, but spoke to Naruto. "Orochimaru did not attack," he said bluntly.

"No," Naruto agreed. "I'm not sure what to think, because he was obsessed with Sasuke last time."

"The spy escaped me," Gaara scowled, and the sound of shifting sand came from within the gourd he carried on his back. Well, that tallied with the stories Jiraiya's spies had reported, at least.

"He won't escape," Naruto assured his friend as they approached the door to the main arena.

* * *

><p>"We should enter separately," Gaara decided as they approached the door. He broke off a few steps short and paused.<p>

When Naruto opened the door, Jiraiya clapped him on the shoulder before vanishing in a Shunshin, reappearing just behind the Hokage, opposite Tsunade. The coughing jonin who had been the proctor for the preliminaries last time was calling for quiet as Naruto joined his teammates. Naruto did likewise, landing beside Sakura, who jumped. A moment later, Gaara appeared in a Suna Shunshin beside his siblings, fortunately or unfortunately between Naruto and Kabuto's team, who were the only other candidates remaining.

The speech was as Naruto remembered, except that no preliminaries were needed. Kabuto, as before, complained of injury from the second task and withdrew, leaving eight contenders to compete and Naruto to reign in his killing intent with difficulty.

"We will reconvene in one month at the public stadium to hold a tournament," coughed the proctor; Gekkou, Naruto suddenly remembered. Naruto hadn't known him well, he seemed to remember attending a memorial service for Gekkou shortly after Jiijii's, but he did remember an ANBU with long purple hair who he thought might have been Gekkou's betrothed. Even in the future she had never offered a name, and so had remained Cat even when her last mask broke. She had served as his ANBU commander after Yamato-taichou had refused…

With an effort, Naruto pulled himself back to the present in time to look over the tournament bracket being projected before them. In the upper bracket was Kankurou versus Sasuke and Kabuto's teammate Tsurugi Misumi versus Gaara. In the lower bracket, Naruto himself was facing Kabuto's other squadmate, Akadou Yoroi, while Sakura was matched against Temari.

With an effort, Naruto managed not to roll his eyes. He glanced at Gaara and cocked an eyebrow. The redhead sighed. It seemed he agreed—the finals would be between the two of them.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. "Too bad. I wanted to fight you before the finals, Loser." He sounded eager, but not bloodthirsty; in that almost-friendly way that Naruto had missed so much after he had gotten the Cursed Seal.

"Tch," Naruto scoffed. "We can spar during the break, since you won't last that long in the tournament, Jerk," he shot back.

Sasuke smirked. Sakura just sighed, then glanced worriedly at Temari. With a slight shimmer, Kakashi appeared behind the boys and dropped a hand on each of their heads in an obnoxious manner. "Now, now, are you sure it would be fair to train together now that the team portion of the tournament is over?"

"Maa, Sensei," Naruto demurred. "I would never dream of abandoning my comrades like that."

Kakashi pinched his face. "Cheeky." The three of them groaned at the pun, but Kakashi just gave them his usual, infuriating eye-smile. "Take a week off, at least, and I'll see you in the usual place, bright and early. Naruto, Hokage-sama says that we can do the thing the day after tomorrow. Ja ne!" He vanished.

"So by 'bright and early', he means lunchtime as usual, right?" Sakura asked dully. Both boys nodded.

"What's 'the thing', Naruto?" Sasuke asked, apparently genuinely curious, since he used his teammate's real name.

"My secret promotion test," Naruto replied honestly, knowing that he wouldn't be believed.

As predicted, Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Dead Last."

It was too late in the day to leave the Forest of Death before nightfall, so the Hokage instructed all the genin to remain in the tower for the night. Team Kakashi returned to the cafeteria for dinner, where they were hesitantly joined by the Sand Siblings and a smiling Iruka, their last Academy teacher, whom Naruto had not seen yet. Naruto and Iruka chattered away happily, while Gaara occasionally chimed in. Naruto wasn't sure if it was just him, but Gaara definitely seemed funnier than he remembered, even from the other future. Perhaps there was just more to laugh about. The rest of their respective teams made awkward small talk, none of them entirely comfortable with each other.

When Iruka escorted them out of the Forest the following morning, Naruto was promptly ambushed by Anko, who cried, "Meal Ticket!" before dragging him off by the hair. Naruto wept theatrically as all of his friends unashamedly abandoned him to his fate. Thirty plates of dango later—of which only four were Naruto's—Anko declared that his debt was paid and that she had to meet Hokage-sama about something.

* * *

><p>The day of Naruto's evaluation dawned overcast, but there was no smell of approaching rain. He dressed for battle, and dropped by Kotetsu Ryuu to see if Higurashi-san had finished another Mie kunai. There were, in fact, two, but Tenten refused to hand them over until he agreed to a spar.<p>

"All right, all right, fine," Naruto promised, "But not until you've rested a bit. Those cracked ribs looked bad."

Tenten shrugged. "I should be fine. Tsunade-sama checked on me personally!" She added with stars in her eyes.

While she was distracted, Naruto snatched the Mie kunai from her and fled the shop, calling back, "Well, I've got a whole month before the tournament, so we'll have plenty of time, bye!"

He turned a corner, then ducked down an alleyway. Once he was out of sight, he drew on chakra for his Hiraishin and flashed to the seal in Jiijii's office…or tried to. As he had half-predicted, he appeared inside the drop ceiling, and had to quickly anchor himself to the support beam with chakra so as not to fall through. He lifted the panel carefully, and peered down into the office, but a hand shot up through the gap, seized him by the collar, and dragged him down into the office proper. Realizing his error, Naruto quickly raised his hands in surrender, even as he was held with his feet off the ground for the second time in two days.

"Release him, Cat," came the Hokage's quiet voice, and the ANBU dropped him at once. Naruto glanced up in time to see the swirl of purple hair as the ANBU vanished to her guard position once more. "An excellent demonstration of your stealth and infiltration skills for advancement, Naruto-kun, but perhaps a little ill-advised," Hiruzen chided.

Naruto scratched his head. "Sorry, Jiijii; I forgot your Guard Platoon always has a talented sensor, and I didn't realize what a bad idea it was until a moment too late."

"You are forgiven," Sarutobi told him as he got to his feet. "Come, we will conduct the examination back in the Forest of Death."

"Ne, Jiijii, should I send a runner to wake up Taichou?" Naruto offered, not really wanting to sit around for hours waiting for Kakashi.

"I think Kakashi-kun may surprise even you," Hiruzen chuckled.

Sure enough, when they arrived, Kakashi was waiting for them in the clearing beside the tower with his little orange book nowhere in sight. He eye-smiled at Naruto. "Ready, Naru-bouzu?" he asked, without preamble.

Naruto took a Shioken ready stance at once. The Hokage chuckled. "Very well, Kakashi-kun," he called. "I will leave the evaluation to you. Please be thorough."

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Kakashi's eye moved to Naruto. "We'll be testing your various skills by sparring. Ninja art number one: Taijutsu." Kakashi watched Naruto for a moment, and when the blond showed no sign of striking first, Kakashi charged.

It was not his full speed—not even close, in fact—but still well above the level expected for a genin. Interestingly, Naruto's response was not Shioken despite his opening posture. His first few blocks and dodges were textbook Academy taijutsu; the sort Naruto had shown no sign of knowing when he had graduated just six months previously. Kakashi pressed his attack, slowly increasing both the complexity and speed of his combinations, but Naruto only smirked and began returning attacks. These, Kakashi was able to stop just as easily, but Naruto could tell he was impressed by his precision.

Abruptly Kakashi switched styles, shoving Naruto back and flowing into a spinning roundhouse kick; Gai's signature Konoha Senpuu. Naruto didn't miss a beat, blocking both of Kakashi's kicks and responding with a vicious uppercut that Kakashi barely dodged. As his teacher raised his fists again, Naruto spun a Konoha Senpuu right back at him. Kakashi whirled to parry the kick in a technique he had plainly devised by sparring Gai, but Naruto only grinned. The usual second kick was a feint, and Naruto instead used the centrifugal momentum to shove Kakashi back with a makeshift Jyuuken Kaiten. Naruto continued in Jyuuken form for another few minutes, though he had always been unable to focus his chakra finely enough to strike correctly. A moment later, Kakashi had shifted again to lightning-fast ANBU-standard Taijutsu, but still Naruto's corresponding defense and retaliation were flawless.

Several minutes and several more martial arts later, Kakashi began to spar in earnest, using the mixed taijutsu style he favored in actual combat. Sensing that the scarecrow was now serious, Naruto responded with his own personal style, which was heavily based on Uzu-ryuu Shioken. He leaned around a straight punch, stepped back to avoid an upward kick, then darted in as his sensei threw a hook. With all the speed and fury of the tides, Naruto buried a fist in Kakashi's gut, then stepped back and circled, waiting for another opening.

Kakashi chuckled wheezily. "Never did get the hang of fighting against that style," he confessed. He drew an ANBU-issue tanto from the sheath on his back. "Ninja art number two: Bukijutsu."

Naruto barely had time to draw his kukri and deflect the strike before Kakashi was on top of him. Locking the older man's blade in the notch at the bottom of his own, Naruto kicked at Kakashi's knees and dodged desperately backwards. His weapon had more heft, but Kakashi was a far better swordsman. Staggering away, Naruto managed to draw a Mie kunai in his off hand to even the odds. Kakashi also drew a kunai, albeit a standard-issue one. Despite Naruto's clearly better-made weapons, it was completely obvious that Kakashi had him utterly on the ropes.

Apparently deciding that he had humiliated Naruto thoroughly enough, Kakashi suddenly skipped backward and sheathed his sword. Naruto hurriedly did the same with his kukri and dropped the Mie kunai point-down where he stood as Kakashi withdrew a double handful of shuriken. Naruto flung his own shuriken to deflect his teacher's, but realized too late that Kakashi's throwing stars were attached to ninja wire. Naruto backflipped hastily over the wires and kicked off a tree behind him, headed straight toward Kakashi, but it seemed that this too had been predicted, as Naruto found several kunai headed toward him. Twisting in midair, Naruto drew his own throwing knife, deflected two of Kakashi's and dodged the third before flinging the small black blade at the scarecrow, where it sank into Kakashi's chest.

_What?_

Kurama pulsed Naruto's chakra without waiting to be asked. The genjutsu dissolved at once, and Naruto found the wire-bound shuriken still flying at him. He rolled to the side instead and came back to his feet to find Kakashi completing another series of seals. The world seemed to shiver, but Kurama once again shattered the illusion before it could really take hold. Naruto shook his head and said, "Don't tell me; 'Ninja art number three: Genjutsu', right?"

Kakashi's visible eyebrow furrowed, but his voice was as calm as ever. "Let's skip to Ninja art number four: Ninjutsu." He flipped through a few signs, ending on tiger. "Katon: Goukakyuu."

Naruto responded instantly, "Suiton: Teppoudama!" He spat a ball of water to douse Kakashi's fireball, then rolled to the side again as a bolt of lightning tore through the resultant steam. Naruto quickly crossed the first two fingers of both hands in a distinctive seal, silently conjuring a kage bunshin that contained a fraction of his chakra. Both of them began signing when Kakashi did not appear through the steam. The clone cried, "Katon: Housenka!" and dispelled, having poured all of its limited chakra into a small spray of fireballs. An instant later, Naruto took a deep breath and grunted, "Fuuton: Daitoppa!" before exhaling a veritable gale, which fanned the fireballs hot enough to glow blue as they tore through the vapor hanging in the air.

The air cleared, but Kakashi was nowhere to be found. Knowing what was coming and having no wish to deal with it, Naruto quietly replaced himself with another shadow clone and retreated into the trees, unseen. Sure enough, from his spot on the branch, he watched as Kakashi's hands erupted from the ground and gripped the clone's ankles, dragging it down until it was buried to the neck. Naruto grimaced. _Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu_. He really despised that technique; it was too much a favorite of the enemy in the future. Deidara, Kakuzu, Zetsu, Kabuto, Orochimaru, Tobi, Madara; appearing suddenly in front of you or seizing your legs with vicelike fingers, teeth, fangs, snakes; tearing at muscles and ligaments or dragging you down, down into the dark…

Naruto swallowed hard to prevent himself vomiting as Kakashi popped up again, bending down to pinch the clone's cheek. The clone glowed, then exploded, blasting Kakashi off his feet and leaving a sizeable crater. Kakashi impacted a tree across the clearing, and Naruto was on him in a Shunshin-assisted flash, his Kukri back out and pressed to his sensei's throat, glowing green and humming slightly with the wind chakra flowing down it.

"Word of advice, Taichou," Naruto whispered, quietly enough that only Kakashi could hear him. He let his fear and disgust bleed into his shaky voice even though his hand was steady. "Don't ever use that jutsu on one of us from the future. We have a lot of very bad memories associated with it. Best case scenario, you'll be spending time in the hospital, and I know you hate that as much as I do." He ended as lightly as he could, sheathing his kukri and retrieving the Mie kunai he had dropped as an emergency Hiraishin point earlier.

Naruto spun the latter around his finger, then extended it to Kakashi; a peace offering. "I know you have one of the Yondaime's; I'd be honored for you to keep one of mine, too."

Kakashi nodded gravely and took it. "Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto glanced around as the Hokage reappeared, flanked by both Sannin and a handful of ANBU: Cat, Lizard, Bear, Panther, and Ocelot.

"So, how'd I do, Hokage-jiijii?" Naruto called, grinning.

"Adequately, Tokubetsu Jonin Uzumaki," the Hokage smirked back. "Follow me back to my office and we'll draw up your commission. Though, I hope you do realize that you will probably have to keep a copy of it on hand so that people believe you, if you should ever need to declare your new rank."

A moment later, the clearing stood empty.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** This chapter ended up being way more talky than I wanted, so I decided to finish up with a fight scene, even if it was kind of a boring one.

_Sarashi_ is the correct name for the "bandages" that Ino wears around her stomach, or which Sanosuke wears in _Rurouni Kenshin_. (Naruto is wearing them in the same style as the latter, albeit under a shirt).

Obviously the necklace didn't break in the other-future the way it did in canon, before anyone pounces in the reviews.

_-bouzu_ is an informal, affectionate, masculine diminutive honorific; socially the equivalent of addressing a young nephew or cousin as "squirt". Combined with the shortening of Naruto's name, Kakashi is being cheerfully familiar with Naruto, the way he might have been if they really had grown up as brothers, considering their relative ages, without outright referring to Naruto as a "little brother".

In case it isn't clear, the word "Ryuu" can mean "school" or "style" (as in a school of martial arts), as well as meaning "dragon", as I mentioned in a previous chapter. The characters are quite different, but pronounced the same way.

I've also thrown up a poll on my profile on FFN—would you guys like a forum to talk with/about me and my stories? I can't really imagine anyone does, but apparently that's a capability FFN has (I'm new to this whole fanfic thing, remember).


End file.
